The Energon Element
by Gforce76
Summary: The ARK initiative was made to preserve life on Earth after years of both human and Cybertronian war poisoned its very core. For ages, the ARK's had tried and failed to revive the planet from the corruption. Now, the System finds that 3 members of Team Prime may be the key to its salvation. But first, they must survive the dangers of the Island and uncover the ARK's many secrets
1. Awakening

**Hello**** all,**

**New fanfiction writer here, also first experience in writing an original story, so go easy please, although true constructive criticism is always welcome. There will be a little bending of both ARK and TF: Prime canon, but nothing too major to stray from the main stories. And it goes without saying that I do not own Transformers Prime or ARK Survival Evolved. Anyways, let's get this started**

* * *

A lone figure floats in an empty void, confined to the great System that both protected and imprisoned her species. She was the youngest and the last of the Homo Deus, the constructors and overseers of the ARK initiative. The last hope for the dying planet her kind had called home. The One Who Waits was searching through the System's database of human history for new candidates to become survivors, when 3 certain teenagers caught her eye.

"Hmmm, seems these three had been through the ringer more than a few times," she says out loud as she watches their memories. From their first meeting with the alien Autobots, to their trip to Cybertron, to their assistance in taking the Omega Lock, it was clear these children had faced threats almost as deadly as what plagued the Earth below. They had even encountered Element years before the rest of humanity, although energon rolled off the tongue better. With their individual strengths, she believed the group had more than what it takes to survive the ARK.

"These three may be the key to finally overcoming the shadows and their King," she says.

She toils with the System's inner workings until she had reconstructed their bodies and inserted their implants. Because of their unique interactions with the Autobots and their early exposure to Element/Energon, she had decided to make an exception to the mindwipe, re-inserting all of their memories and experiences. When she had finished, she prepared to send them off into the Island, but not before giving a proper farewell.

"Good luck Jack, Miko, and Raf, humanity is counting on you"

With that, she had them teleported onto the beaches of the Island before she resumed her work. When they were gone, a single tear rolled off her eye and down her transparent body. _I'm sorry Mei Yin. I'll avenge you all, no matter what it takes._

* * *

_Pain_

Jack woke with a start, having felt a sharp pinch on his arm. He righted himself, ready to smack whoever had pinched him, and was thoroughly dumbfounded to find a small bipedal bird creature picking at his arm.

"Hey, beat it!" he yelled, prompting the small and ugly creature to scamper off into the jungle.

_Where am I? _he thought to himself, surveying the beach he now found himself stranded on. Seeing that he was almost naked made the situation even more bizarre. He went to attend to whatever injury the bird might have left, and was thoroughly shocked to find a diamond shaped implant stuck in his left arm. In a panic, he quickly tries to scratch it off to no avail.

After several minutes of shock, Jack decided he needed to get working before night falls on the mysterious island._ I could really use my survival kit right now. Better yet I could use Arcee. _It had been a month since the Autobots returned home to Cybertron, but that didn't mean he didn't missed his old partner. _No dwelling on the past now, I'm still in the middle of nowhere._

While Jack was in his thoughts, he hears a grunting noise. Instinctively, he ducks behind a rock and peeks over the edge. What he sees is a girl and a boy laying face down in the sand, one with familiar black pigtails and a pink streak in her hair, and one with spiky brown hair. Jack bolted out from behind the rocks and attempted to wake his friends up.

"Miko, Raf! Come on wake up," he exclaimed while shaking them, jarring them from their unconsciousness and back to the real world.

"Jack, Miko? Whats's going on? Where are we? And what's with this itchy metal stub?" Raf asks in a flurry of questions.

"I don't know Raf, I woke up a minute before you did. All I know is we need to find shelter before dark."

"But we just got here on an abandoned beach! Where's your sense of adventure guys?" Miko interceded.

Before Jack could rebutt her, a loud snorting sound came from behind them. They all ducked behind a rock again and peeked out. What they saw left them completely stunned. Standing in front of them was a pair of three-horned beast, easily larger than them all put together. Raf was the one to voice what all three of them were thinking.

"That's a triceratops."

"Is this time travel?"

"Are we gonna die?"

After the initial shock and debate wore off, the group decided to get closer, remembering that triceratops is a mostly peaceful herbivore. "Touch it Jack! It won't eat you," Miko insisted.

"No, but I stand a good chance of becoming a kebab," he answered.

Though at first hesitant, Jack eventually caved into his own curiosity and laid his hand on the beast's back. It payed no mind to his touch, letting him stroke it gently. "This is insane, but for once I actually like it!" he said in awe. As he was petting the triceratops, he noticed his implant was glowing blue. He pulled back his hand to his face to inspect it, and was surprised when a blue hologram popped up showing multiple statistics.

"Woah, thats definitely new" he said. Raf bumped him and showed that his implant had a glowing stat sheet as well. Many of them were self explanatory such as health, stamina, and food. Only torpidity caused some confusion, and judging by the icon it was easy to tell what it meant.

"It's like a video game," Raf pointed out. "Look, it even says level up!" It was true. Jack's screen had a green level up sign at the top, and the stats on the side had glowing plus signs next to them.

Jack stared confused at the screen. "Uh, I guess it never hurts to have more health, right?" he warily questioned.

He touched the plus sign next to health, where it took him to a screen called engrams. Currently, he had 8 engram points available to spend on a campfire, a stone hatchet, and a spear. Jack pondered what use these engrams could have until Raf nudged him again and showed him his own screen.

"Maybe those engrams have something to do with this?" Raf suggested, proceeding to tap the Crafting section next to the Inventory. On it is a blacked out portrait of a torch, stone pickaxe, and a note. When Raf held their icons, it showed the resources needed to craft them. Jack takes a second to check his inventory and finds he had all the resources needed to craft a stone pick. He then goes to his own crafting tab before finding the portrait of the pickaxe to be brightened. He taps the symbol and hears the sounds of construction. When the construction meter fills, he goes back and finds a stone pick assembled in his inventory. Curious now, Jack taps the icon of the pickaxe, and in his hand appears a stone pickaxe out of thin air, taking the boys aback.

"That's impossible, tools can't just magically form out of the air," Raf stutters out, trying to make sense of it all.

Jack places his hand on his shoulder, telling him, "Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth, I can barely put together a decent campfire. With this thing, we can make better tools than we ever could have by hand."

Raf smiled at this, before realizing with a start, "Wait, where's Miko?"

"GUYYYS!"

Jack sighs, muttering "Here we go again," before him and Raf took off to where they heard the voice.

Turning the corner around a palm tree, the boys spot Miko booking it across the beach line. Right behind her are a pair of carnivorous dinosaurs spitting acid at her. "Those are dilophosaurs!" Raf exclaimed, having recognized the frills and acid spitting from the Jurassic Park movies. He quickly turns to Jack, who already had set off, pickaxe in hand, to save Miko.

The dilophosaur pair had nearly caught Miko, who had been weakened by the acid spit. Just as the first Dilo was about to pounce, it was met with the sharp end of Jack's pickaxe. Due to its low level, the Dilo crumpled to the ground in pain. The other Dilo hissed at Jack, its attention completely on the one who crippled its mate. It charged Jack, spitting and roaring in fury. Jack dodged the first two projectiles, but was hit by a third square in the chest. It left a searing pain that caused him to stumble over. The Dilo had jumped on him, getting ready to go for Jack's throat, when it was hit in the face by a stone blade. The Dilo turned to face the new threat, where Raf stood with his new stone hatchet in hand. He helped Jack get back up, putting the boys in a standoff against the dinosaur. The Dilo charged again, allowing the boys to sidestep it and hit it together, causing major damage. The dinosaur was bleeding profusely, desperately trying to shoot the two attackers. Jack and Raf hid behind a rock to avoid the spit. Suddenly, Jack sprinted up the side of the rock, where he jumped off, bearing down on the dilophosaur. With a swift swipe of his pickaxe, Jack smashed the skull of the tiny carnivore, killing it on impact.

Miko came running over to the boys, screaming, "That was so cool! You showed that dinosaur you don't mess with Team Prime!"

Raf blushed slightly while Jack casually responded, "Yeah, guess hanging around Arcee and her training sessions has its benefits. But more importantly, this is what happens when you run off. Without the Autobots, all we have is each other on an island of dinosaurs and who knows what else. We can't lose each other."

Before Miko could create a retort, a pained wail sounded from behind them. The Dilophosaur Jack had crippled lay on the ground in great pain. It hurt the group to see what they had done, but it was the way of nature. That however didn't stop Raf from feeling bad for it.

"We have to do something to help it," Raf declared

Jack and Miko replied in unison, "But it just tried to KILL us"

"It was only doing what it was born to do, and we were the ones who did this to her. Miko, did you do anything to aggravate them?"

"Well i did pick up a chubby bird that they might have been hunting, I think it was a dodo" Miko answered

"Right, and since her mate is gone, the least we can do is give her what she was after"

Though Miko and Jack didn't like it, they had to agree with Raf's reasoning, as without Miko's interference, the Dilos wouldn't have bothered them. So Miko went back to where she left the Dodo and carried its corpse over to where the Dilo lay. Laying the corpse at its mouth and knocking it unconscious to get away, the teens left the injured dinosaur there and set off further down the beach.

"Ok, so we lost some time before dark to get set up. Good thing I killed that Dilophosaur though because I leveled up again. And it looks like I can craft us some clothes, for all our benefit," Jack explained. Clothes would help them endure the elements, as well as make being around each other much less awkward.

Before Jack could add on however, Miko asked, "Um, you guys mind explaining how this whole "crafting" thingy in your arm works?"

After a thorough explanation of what the implant does, Miko attempted to gather the materials for a pickaxe. when she picked up a piece of wood, she was surprised to see it get sucked into the implant. "Whoa, what was that?" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, it does that. It puts it in your inventory so you can use it for crafting." Jack offhandedly replied. "It's convenient."

Miko didn't complain, and so gathered the rest of the materials needed for a stone pick and a hatchet, with the boys doing the same. When they each had leveled up and had one of each of the stone tools, they agreed it was best to start gathering the resources needed for a campfire. But before they could set off...

_Grumble_

Raf chuckled, "Well, guess my food meter is down huh?" Jack and Miko realized that they too were hungry.

"Alright, let's get some food first, then we make a campfire" Jack declared.

* * *

The trio had split up to scavenge a few bushes and gather resources, finding various colored berries that the implant had labeled names such as "Tintoberry" and "Narcoberry" as well as greater resource yields thanks to their new tools. Jack was gathering more berries when he gathered a strange substance from the plant. Investigating further, he found it was the fiber he needed to craft clothes.

"Yes! Jack Darby, you are a genius," he muttered to himself.

Jack's thoughts were interrupted again as he heard a high pitched whine. Still slightly hurt from the Dilo fight, he jumped into the bushes to hide himself from potential predators. He peeked out of the bushes, his eyes falling on another bipedal lizard, much larger than the Dilo and with feathers sticking out. It didn't take much for him to identify the predator.

"Raptor," he whispered.

The Raptor was sniffing the air looking for prey, when it turned its eyes to the bush Jack was in. Halting all movement, Jack held his breath for a few tense seconds, praying the Raptor didn't notice him. As it began baring its teeth, a huge bird with giant claws burst from the jungle, rushing the Raptor. As it did, 4 more Raptors burst from the foliage and engaged the giant clawed beast.

_I've been in this situation with the 'Cons enough times to know when to leave _Jack thought. Taking a few more berries and fiber, he slipped away back to where he would meet Miko and Raf, hoping some unseen predator wasn't stalking him.

Raf had gone into the Jungle to gather more wood for the fire. Along the way, he had found that hitting a rock with his pickaxe yielded flint instead of stone, which he used to craft himself a torch and gain a level up.

As he walked around the jungle, there was a squeaking behind him. When he turned around, he saw several little yellow and green dinosaurs rushing at him. From the look of their mouths and his exposure to Jurassic Park III, he was able to tell they were Compys. Having seen what they could do, he sprinted away into the foliage. After gaining considerable distance, he tripped on something. Believing it to be a log, Raf was startled out of his mind when he came nose to nose with a human skull.

"Whoaa!" he yelled, scrambling backwards.

After the initial shock wore off, Raf investigated the body for anything of use. He found a spear, a slingshot, even a bow with arrows. The most intriguing thing he found however was an old book titled, "Dossiers and Journals of Helena Walker". Curious, Raf opened the book, and was greeted with a page with an in-depth description of the _Therizinosaurus_. Raf studied the page up and down, processing all the information it had to offer. Having been a dinosaur fanatic in his younger days, he already knew a fair bit of information about the lethal herbivore.

At least, until he arrived at the tab that said "domesticated". Raf had to re-read the word to make sure he saw it right. _We can tame dinosaurs?_ he thought_. _As he read the tab, he discovered that tribes had once used the beast for gathering as well as hunting. The implications left Raf stunned for a few minutes, both because of the potential benefits domesticated animals can give, and because his inner 9 year old was giddy at the thought of having a pet dinosaur. It also comforted him to know there were other humans at one point, making him feel less alone.

Raf saw that it was beginning to get dark, so he picked up his torch and began making his way back to the beach, eager to share his discoveries with Jack and Miko.

Miko had gone further down the beach to try and get a feel of the area. Along the way, she had come across many new animals, prompting her to geek out at many of them. She even fed berries to a passing dodo. After some time, she came across a bay area that led into a river. Hoping to find something exciting farther inland, she continued further up river.

After arriving at a fork in the river, Miko decided to call it quits after finding nothing but piranhas, much to her and her arm's chagrin. As she was preparing to head back, she saw a Parasaurolophus hurriedly making its way across the river. Miko wondered why the dinosaur was in such a hurry, when her curiosity turned to fear as she spotted the large fin in the water.

The Megalodon burst forward in a flash of teeth, surprising the parasaur as it was rag dolled in its jaws, eventually killing it. Once the shark had taken a considerable chunk out of the parasaur's leg, it circled back for another bite, before a loud roar echoed across the river as the true reason the parasaur was running made its presence known.

The Spinosaurus had stealthily made its way behind the parasaur before towering high above both it and the Megalodon. The Spino roared at the shark, challenging it for its kill. The shark made a lunge at the dinosaur, earning it a deep scratch across its face and a bite to the dorsal fin. Realizing the battle was too risky in shallow water, the Megalodon retreated back out to the ocean. After tossing the parasaur corpse on land, the Spinosaur proceeded to give chase to the massive shark.

In the brush, Miko had watched the spectacle of nature unfold in its entirety, having been frozen both out of fear and amazement. As she saw the Spino give chase to the Meg, she saw that the parasaur corpse had landed near her position. _It wouldnt hurt to have some meat for the fire _she thought.

After some doubt and checking if the coast was clear, Miko made a mad dash for the parasaur. Arriving at the corpse, she began swinging wildly at it while packing the meat into her implant as well as some hide. She went into her inventory and was surprise to see the parasaur had an inventory as well, containing a single item labeled "nerdy glasses". Deciding not to ponder on it, she took the glasses from its inventory to give Raf and continued harvesting. After several more swings, the corpse disintegrated.

"Weird, but I've seen weirder," she said out loud.

As she was getting ready to head back, a roar called her attention to the Spinosaurus barreling down on her. It had returned from chasing the shark in time to see Miko harvesting its kill. With a squeal, Miko began sprinting into the jungle, the Spino hot on her heels.

Miko checked her stamina as she ran, her anxiety growing when she saw her stamina at 34/110. She would not be able to outrun the Spino unless a miracle happened. Thankfully, it did. After going a considerable distance into the jungle, the Spino had given up its pursuit and began to return to the river.

Panting heavily, Miko wheezed out, "Man, got some serious Skyquake vibes from that. I think I should head back." With that, Miko tiredly trekked back to the beach, excited to tell the others what events had occured.

* * *

Arcee had just finished her training session with the new recruits. Presently, all she wanted to do was go take an oil bath and enter her sleep mode. Ever since the restoration of Cybertron, Arcee's new position as commander and war hero had been both a blessing and a curse. She appreciated the benefits and the fact that she was honored alongside all her friends on their restored home, but there were days where she wished she was still on Earth, if only to avoid the holowork and to have some RR. Still, she couldn't complain. Her old life was back, and she was going to enjoy it. She still couldn't help thinking about the kids though after all these years, especially Jack. She had seen him as family, a little brother of sorts. Which made the call from Ratchet all the more heartbreaking when she heard he had died at 86 years old. The memory still saddened Arcee when she thought of it.

Arcee was shaken from her stupor when her two comrades in arms, Bumblebee and Bulkhead, came running towards her.

"Arcee, we need to talk," Bumblebee stated.

"What's happening Bee?" she asked, visibly concerned. "

"Bee' got a distress call from Earth. Get this, it was sent two centuries ago," Bulkhead finished.

"What? How is that possible? If something was wrong, Ratchet would have sent a message at least a day after," Arcee said in alarm. How could Ratchet not have not known to contact them? "Does this have to do with the humans' discovery of energon?" she stammered.

"We're not sure. All we know is we need to get to Earth as soon as possible," Bumblebee said.

"Come on, we need to alert Ultra Magnus right now," Arcee hurriedly stated, as she and the two mechs transformed and hurried to the General's room.

* * *

**Please read and review!**


	2. Campfire Stories

The members of Team Prime had all made their way back to the stretch of beach where they would regroup. Upon arrival, they could all tell they each had their own stories to tell about their time in the wilderness.

"Tell you guys what, we get this campfire going first, then we can all talk about what we saw out there," Jack tiredly said.

Miko and Raf nodded, pooling together the resources needed to create a fire onto Jack. After Jack had crafted the fire, he set it down on the sand. He found the fire had an inventory as well, so he put 60 wood into the inventory and pushed "light fire". The fire bloomed to life as all three of them huddled around it for warmth. Just in time as well, as the sun had set behind them, ushering in the cool night.

"Ok, so who wants to tell their campfire story first?" Jack questioned light-heartedly.

"Oh, me!" Miko exclaimed. "But first..." Miko opened her inventory and placed two stacks of raw meat in the fire's inventory.

"Wow Miko, where'd you get meat from?" Raf asked her, surprised at her apparent success in hunting.

"That's actually part of my story, so I can tell it whileour food is cooking," she replied.

Miko then described her story to the boys, from all the new wildlife she had encountered to the fight between the giant shark and Spinosaurus. Raf had interjected as she was telling the story to suggest that the giant shark may have been Megalodon, the largest shark to ever live. Jack had visibly gotten worried, hearing that there were two apex predators just further down the beach.

"This just got a lot more dangerous," he had said.

"Well it's not all bad," Miko continued. "Anyways, after the Spino chased the Meg away, I ran out of the bushes and hacked at the parasaur corpse. That's where these delicious steaks came from," she paused as she downed a piece of cooked meat. "It had an inventory too even though it was dead. Oh! That reminds me," she said as she pulled up her inventory again, dropping a strange box.

"Here you go Raf, I think you'll like these. I found it in the parasaur's inventory," Miko explained. Raf went to pick it up and saw a holographic display for a pair of "nerdy glasses". Curious, Raf equipped them, and found the glasses fit like his old ones, even fixing his poor vision.

"Thanks Miko! It's kind of weird you got these from a dead body though," Raf said inquisitively.

Miko just shrugged, "Hey, gramps can't be choosers. But anyways, I finished chopping up the body when the Spino came back from chasing the shark. I ran into the jungle, and right when I was about to run outta gas, it stopped and went back to the river! I guess it got homesick and forgot about me, because it acted like I didn't even exist. Anyways, that's what I did," Miko finished.

Jack sat up straight, saying, "Well, guess we know to avoid the rivers for now then. And here I thought my story was dangerous."

Miko later down, asking him, "Speaking of, what did you do Jack?". Jack looked towards Raf, who politely put his hand up. "You can go first, I'll tell my story after."

So Jack began telling his experience, telling the group about his discovery of fiber, to which he used to introduce his next topic.

"I present to you, one size fits all!" he dramatically said before throwing down two full sets of cloth clothing. Miko and Raf eagerly picked them up, equipping them on their different body slots.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to be wearing such an ugly shirt!" Miko exclaimed. True to Jack's word, the clothes he crafted fit them all each like a glove.

"What can I say? I'm an outdoorsman," Jack proudly proclaimed. He went into his inventory to check something, when he found a new icon that said "Skin: Jack's clothes". Confused, he turned to the others.

"Hey guys, check your inventories," he said. Following suit, Raf and Miko turned on their inventories, finding they too had skins for their respective clothes.

"This is super weird," Miko said. Wondering what the purpose could be, Raf slid his clothes skin onto his currently equipped clothes, and was taken aback when his cloth clothes morphed into his signature orange turtleneck and jeans with his white shoes.

"Oh my gosh!" he yelled, feeling his new (or old) clothes out. They felt just like the original cloth clothes, insulating him from heat better than his normal clothes would have, yet they still retained the appearance of his normal outfit. "Guys, check it out!" he shouted in glee. Following suit, the other two teens dragged their clothes skins onto their current clothes, having the same morphing effect happen to them.

"Whoa!" Miko and Jack exclaimed in unison. The two teens moved around in their old clothes, finding like Raf that their clothes were only there in appearance rather than substance. Jack didn't care, he was just happy to be back in his old grey T-shirt and white long sleeve.

"Ok, guess that mystery's solved. But before we do anything else, I'm gonna finish my story" he calmly said. The other teens nodded and sat down, letting Jack finishing his story. He told them about his encounter with the raptor pack and his tense bush hiding moment, as well as the giant clawed bird.

"Then this giant bird with claws ran out of the jungle, which made like four other raptors jump out of the bushes and attack it," he finished saying.

"I actually have something really interesting about that," Raf announced. "You see, when I-"

He was cut off as a series of chirps sounded behind them. Raf pulled out his torch in time to see up to 15 Compys charging at them. They all attacked Raf, knocking him to the ground and chewing on him like scraplets to an Autobot. As he squirmed, Jack and Miko tried to swat some off of him with their hatchets while Raf pulled out the spear from earlier. When the group had knocked off or killed all the Compys on Raf, they helped him to his feet as the Compys regrouped, 10 more joining their ranks from the jungle.

"Get ready for a fight guys!" Jack yelled, circling the campfire and the little yellow and green army. Soon, the Compys has split up to attack Jack and Miko as they used their stone tools to defend themselves, with Raf carefully shooting the ones latching onto his friends with his new bow and arrow.

"Ahhh! Get off!" Miko screamed as two Compys made it onto her arms. Raf was getting another arrow ready to help Miko, when a green projectile struck the Compy on her left arm. Bamboozled, Raf looked to the left to see the Dilophasaur from before had joined the fray. It assisted Jack in knocking the Compys off his body, eating the ones that tried to attack it. It then rushed the ones attacking Miko and tore off the ones climbing her clothes. The little army scrambled to regroup after taking major casualties from both the humans and now the dinosaur that joined them. They collectively squacked at the group, to which the Dilo answered with a roar and a spit, causing the army to flee into the night.

The group had all bunched together, aiming their respective weapons at the Dilo as they prepared for the worst. The dinosaur turned around, and instead of attacking, it chirped and tilted its head inquisitively. This confused the group beyond belief.

"Isn't that the same Dilo that we fought earlier?" Jack asked, grasping his stone hatchet tight.

"I don't forget faces. That's the same dinosaur that chased me down the beach earlier," Miko stated, staring down the tiny carnivore. It was at this point that Raf noticed a blinking light from his implant. He opened his implant, and instead of his inventory, was greeted with 4 words and a keyboard.

_Name Your New Tame!_

The group was dumbstruck for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last 24 hours. _New Tame. _That wasn't possible, this was a wild animal, a dinosaur no less! Yet here it was, chirping obediently, waiting for Raf to give it its moniker.

"Uhh, any ideas guys?" he asked his friends. Jack and Miko only gave him shrugs and head shakes. Turning back to his new pet, he pondered some names. He thought for a minute before settling on one and typing it into the keyboard. When he finished, he smiled.

"Welcome to the group, Spitfire!"

Spitfire gave a happy purr as Raf stood up to pet it. When his hand got close, his implant showed a hologram displaying information about his new Dilo friend, such as level (47), owner, and name. Upon seeing that it was a she, he wiped sweat from his brow, glad that he didn't name her Sir Spitzalot like he first thought to.

"Wait, just hold on a minute," Jack finally spoke. "Now I'm not complaining because that thing just saved our lives, but we left it crippled on the beach earlier. Something tells me friends don't beat each other into submission. So why is it walking? Or why is it helping us? It doesn't make sense?" Jack finished, clutching his head from the confusion.

"Yeah, that thing looked preeetty peeved at me when I stole its dodo. Shouldn't it hate us or something?" Why does it wanna get all cuddly now?" Miko questioned with a confused look.

"I... may have a theory about that" Raf said with a sheepish smile.

They all gathered back around the campfire again after some minor debates about whether Spitfire would eat them or not. In the end, she joined them at the fire as Raf proceeded to tell his tale. He recounted his journey into the jungle and how the Compys had first attacked him there. He then went on to tell how he stumbled upon a human body. He explained it was where his new equipment came from, showing them his bow and spear.

"I was wondering where you got those. I only unlocked the bow after that fight with the Compys, which by the way still hurts," Jack winced out, watching his health crawl back from 72 to 120.

"Yeah, but that's not the most important thing I found," Raf said, as he pulled a book out of his implant. The two other teens went closer to look.

"Dossiers and Journals of Helena Walker?" Miko recited out loud. "Sounds pretty plain to me," Jack commented.

"Maybe, but check this out," Raf said, opening the book to the first page. The two teens looked at the Therizinosaurus page Raf had read earlier, now understanding what Raf meant earlier when Jack was telling of his encounter. And just like Raf, Miko and Jack had to reread the tab that said "Domesticated" to make sure they weren't blind. Reading over it, the teens were amazed at the amount of uses a tamed Therizino had, as well as the fact that humans had even tamed one in the first place.

"I saw that thing tear through some raptors like a butter knife before I left. This book is telling us we can tame one to be our personal farmer?" Jack asked.

Miko excitedly shook at the idea, exclaiming, "Yes! We can have a pet dinosaur!" How awesome is that?".

Raf smiled, stating, "I don't think the Therizino is the only thing we can tame either. I didn't read the other pages, but I bet there's more pages on the different dinosaurs on the island."

Team Prime read over the contents of the book, growing more fascinated with each page they read. There were descriptions and domestication details of many of the dinosaurs they had come across, such as the Dilo, the Raptor, and even the Spino. There were even a few pages dedicated to the Sabertooth, Pulmonoscorpius, and the Ankylosaur, creatures they had yet to encounter yet. After several pages though, they found a very large amount of pages had been ripped out, ending abruptly with the back cover.

"What? There's way more dinosaurs here than that. It doesn't even have the ugly bird thing that picked at my arm earlier," Jack said.

"Yeah, and I don't see anything about the Mega-whats-it shark that was in the river," Miko chimed.

"They might be scattered around the Island. After all, that corpse didn't look like a Helena Walker to me. Maybe someone stole the other parts," Raf offered.

"Hey guys, we missed one," Miko pointed out. There was a page without any dinosaur drawings that the group had missed. Reading it over, they deciphered it to be one of Helena's first journals. It also helped that the title said "Helena Walker: Journal 1"

"Wow, seems like this Helena person really knows this Island well," Jack stated. Hundreds of sunrises? She may had been here well over a year. "Hey, at least we know someone was here. Or maybe still is?" Miko added.

"Wait guys, there's a back too!" Raf announced. The group turned the page and found a page titled: "An Auzy's Guide to Taming Dinosaurs". Frantically, the children read the whole page front and back, learning that the substance in their engrams list, narcotic, was the key to taming most of the dinosaurs on the island. The trick was to knock out the animal of choice using a variety of methods: traps, tranq arrows, even fists, and feed it its food of choice while it is unconscious. There will be a taming bar that appears with a torpor bar from their implant, and the animal must have its torpor filled at least slightly the whole time while the taming bar fills with voluntary feedings. Once the bar fills, the animal would be loyal to its tamer, no matter what.

"So that must be why Spitfire obeys us. We knocked her out and fed her," Raf said.

"But we didn't have narcotic or narcoberries. How did she stay unconscious?" Jack asked.

"Maybe she's a heavy sleeper?," Miko offered.

Raf spoke up, "It doesn't matter. What does though is that we know we can tame almost any animal on this island, and now we know how. Plus, I like Spitfire. She reminds me a bit of Bumblebee," he solemnly finished as he petted her head. The group hadn't noticed when she was trying to kill them earlier, but Spitfire resembled Bee's color scheme fairly closely. She was black and brown with various yellow and a few red streaks across her body. Miko put her hand on Raf's back, consoling him as she knew he still missed the Autobot scout.

"As much as I'd love to have some awesome dinosaurs on our side, we need get a base going where we can regroup and find shelter. So how about we build ourselves a hut to find shelter in? Because that Compy attack made it pretty obvious that these dinosaurs aren't afraid of fire. We need a place to protect us from them, and whatever else is on this island," Jack proposed. The group agreed, still slightly bleeding from their battle with the Compy army. They agreed to all put their engrams into the thatch structures and to go gather resources to build them.

Once the group had gathered a decent amount of fiber and thatch, they returned to their campfire to begin building. Along the way, Raf had learned he could command Spitfire to do acertain behaviors by whistling, as could the others. The little Dilo even helped lug extra resources in her inventory after they all learned tames had inventories too. With this knowledge, they packed some wood and thatch into her inventory, as well as taking out a few pieces of meat to cook.

After a lot of level ups and crafting, the group had made a 3x4 thatch hut with 3 beds, a storage box, and a mortar and pestle after finding out narcotic couldn't be crafted in their inventories. Currently, all of their scavenging as well as the spoiled meat in their inventories added up to make a grand total of...10 narcotic. They had put away the narcotic and the slingshot Raf found with an ample ammo supply of 40 stone. After all the work was done, Jack noticed something odd.

"Hey guys, have either of you felt sleepy at all?," he asked. This caused the other two to realize that they weren't sleepy, even though they had worked to nearly sunrise. "I've been a little tired from hitting trees, but I'm not really sleepy," Raf confessed.

"Yeah me neither," Miko admitted.

"Something's definitely up with this Island. Normally we would've been sleeping like 2 hours ago, but I don't even feel drowsy. Something's definitely up with this place." Jack concluded.

"Maybe it has to do with that giant floating thingy in the sky?" said Miko, pointing with a deadpan expression. The boys looked in her direction to see a glowing obelisk of green light floating above the Island.

"Well, that's definitely a possibility," Jack sheepishly said while rubbing his neck. "Well at least we know something's definitely weird about this island. I'm gonna grab some shut eye though if I even can. You two coming?"

Raf joined Jack as the two went into the hut to sleep. Miko vouched to instead gather more narcoberries before she would join them, so she spent another half hour painstakingly gathering them from all the surrounding bushes as well as their fiber before going into the hut too. She found Jack and Raf sleeping soundly on their separate beds, Spitfire curled up next to Raf's bed. _They look comfy, Better go join them _Miko thought. She went to the only empty bed and curled up, suddenly feeling very sleepy after pulling her blanket over herself. Soon, all of Team Prime was fast asleep as the sun rose over the horizon.

* * *

Ultra Magnus sat in the General's room alone. Ever since the restoration of Cybertron and Optimus Prime's sacrifice, the new race of Transformers had elected him to be General of the Autobot army should another war ever arise. Though he sometimes missed the battlefield, he couldn't deny that he had grown accustomed to the last few centuries of peace. He sighed wistfully though, remembering his glory days.

A ringer beeped, indicating someone at the door. "Proceed," he said, opening the door and allowing Bumblebee, Arcee, and Bulkhead into his chamber. "Soldiers, what's the matter?" He asked as he saluted.

Returning the salute, Bumblebee told him, "General, around 2 days ago, I received a distress call from Ratchet from Earth."

Ultra Magnus gave a strange look. "That's odd, if the Chief Medic had to report, he would have gotten a message across in an hour, or would have used the space bridge we left on Earth"

"It gets stranger General," Arcee added. "Bumblebee said the call was sent two centuries ago."

Now Ultra Magnus visibly showed concern. "Two whole centuries?!" he repeated. No message should take so long to reach Cybertron, even from Earth. He had mistaken the Medic's silence for times of peace. "This seems to be a rather pressing matter. I will be dispatching you three to the planet due to your prior experiences to search for field medic Ratchet, and if nothing else, to find out why he has gone radio silent," he declared.

"Understood sir," all 3 bots replied. They all went to their quarters to prep themselves for the journey, as space bridges seemed to be out of the question.

Several hours later, Ultra Magnus had a ship commissioned for the 3 veteran Autobots with enough energon to fuel a round trip from Cybertron to Earth.

"I know all of you have had personal matters on Earth, as have I. But you must remember your primary objective is to bring Chief Medic Ratchet back to Cybertron so he can explain his situation. If I don't hear any word back from you after 6 months, I will dispatch another team, myself included, to retrieve you. Am I clear?" The General finished.

"Roger," Arcee answered for the group.

Ultra Magnus grinned, "Then be on your way. Stay safe Autobots, may Primus guide you."

With that, the three original bots entered the ship and set a course for Earth.

"Hey, I know we're on a mission, but would you mind if I visit Raf while we're there?" Bumblebee shyly requested.

"And I want to see Miko," Bulkhead added.

Arcee could see the sadness on their faces just as clear as the day they were told their human companions had passed. She nodded, under one condition. "As long as I get to say goodbye to Jack," she said, to which her companions nodded. "Then let's go to Earth," she proclaimed, igniting the engines and shooting off of Cybertron, racing across the stars to their home away from home.


	3. Grounded

Jack had awoken to the sounds of an ethereal buzzing. Confused, he got up from his bed, careful not to wake his friends and Spitfire. He made his way out of the hut, where he was greeted with a shining green light a few feet down the beach. Looking up, he saw a strange shape coming down from the sky. Cautiously, he approached the object as it descended. When it had landed, he reached out to touch it when his implant glowed again. "Oh great, what's the next weird thing you're gonna tell me? Congrats on growing wings and learning to fly?" he jokingly said to himself.

He put his hand up to show his inventory, and was given both his and the inventory of a "Loot Drop". He looked at its inventory, and found 4 bolas, a spyglass, and a _ramshackle pteranodon saddle. Saddles? As in "animal riding" saddles? _Jack wondered. Well, he wasn't growing wings, but he very well may soon learn to fly. He then remembered that there were saddles in his engrams list, but he paid them no heed as many of them were animals he did not know besides the parasaur. _I really should have paid more attention to that _he thought to himself. After he took all of the contents, the loot crate disintegrated, surprising him, just in time for Miko and Raf to come out of the hut, Spitfire in tow.

"What's cracking Jack? What was that?" Miko greeted.

"Well, that green glowing thing was apparently a loot crate. But check out what I got out of it," he said while leaning over to show them his findings. They looked at the new objects, eyeing them with curiosity.

"What's a bola?" Raf asked. Jack held down the icon, giving them a description of what it was and its uses.

"So it immobilizes small animals?" Miko surmised.

"Guess so. If it does, that actually works with the other thing I found." Jack then directed them to his most intriguing find.

The group looked at the saddle, shaking with excitement at the idea of riding a Pteranodon across the sky. "Now we're talking! We can ride flying dinosaurs!" Miko yelled with glee.

"Yeah, now the only problem is finding one," Jack pointed out.

Raf then nudged then both, "I think I saw one when I was in the jungle yesterday," hoping to convince Jack to go out and help tame their first flyer.

"Guess we know what we're doing today," Jack declared, lighting up his friend's faces.

The teens prepared everything they needed for the tame. Raf got his slingshot and gathered ammo from the beach to knock the bird unconscious. Meanwhile, Miko took Spitfire out to help her hunt Compys for both raw and spoiled meat. Finally, Jack had gone on another narcoberry run to mix into narcotic. During his gathering, he found the seed for a narcoberry plant alongside the berries. He examined it and remembered, _I saw a crop plot engram earlier. I bet I could plant this and make our own narcoberry plant. _With that, he dropped the seed into his inventory and made a mental note to construct a mini farm later when they got back.

After a long narcotic making and hunting session, the team had gathered 49 raw meat for the tame and 45 narcotic. Believing it to be sufficient, they set off into the jungle, hoping to come back with their own Pteranodon.

* * *

The One Who Waits observed the progress of the trio, pleased with how they had progressed thus far.

"It seems like they're making good progress" she said, having been impressed with their advancement in just one day. She was glad to see the group had learned one of the most essential parts to surviving the Island, even if by accident. She knew that if they were to have any success in surviving the Island, and of challenging the King of the Shadows and his lieutenants, they had to master the creatures that roamed it.

The Homo Deus' thoughts was sharply interrupted by an alarm. The long range sensors had picked up an object from light years away setting a course towards earth. Using the System's Element enhanced telescopic lens, she zoomed in on the incoming object. As the lens cleared, she saw a ship racing towards earth across the cosmos. Upon further magnification, she was able to see into the cockpit.

Remembering her three candidates' memories, she was able to identify the crew as the ones who had defended Earth long ago and befriended the human children she was observing. _Interesting. Maybe I can guide them as I did the one I almost lost _she thought. She decided to wait for them to get closer before reaching out to them. If properly guided, she knew they would help take up the fight against the corruption. But only if their friends below survived long enough to see it.

* * *

After a fruitless one hour search, the team's spirits were deflating. "We're never gonna find these things huh?" Miko exasperatedly sighed.

"Man, how hard can it be to spot a giant flying reptile?" Jack said.

The group had accidentally gone out when the sun was rising at its highest. They had already emptied their water skins and had lost sight of the beach, making it much harder for them to push on. The team also had seen nothing but Trikes and Compys for the past hour. The team was about to give up and begin the search anew tomorrow.

Just then, the sound of leathery flaps caused the team to look up, where they saw a dozen pterasaurs flying high, with a single one dipping close enough for them to hear.

The group collectively facepalmed, realizing that they had been looking at the ground like with all the other dinosaurs instead of to the skies. "Let's just say that heat stroke messed up our thinking," Jack said, embarrassed at their mistake. Miko and Raf chuckled and nodded sheepishly in agreement.

Raf then told Jack to make sure he was looking at a Pteranodon as opposed to another species of pterosaur. Jack pulled out the spyglass from before and began aiming at the flying reptiles.

"Yep, definitely a Pteranodon," he told them.

"How do you know?" Raf questioned. Jack then gave the spyglass to Raf who aimed it at the flying creature. When it came into the lens, Raf could see the distinct features of a Ptera such as its long beak and crest. The spyglass also displayed in yellow, "Wild Female Pteranodon Lvl 25". "Oh," Raf chuckled.

The team opted to follow the Ptera until it landed back on the ground, allowing them to bola it. It took another 20 minutes before it landed, leading Team Prime to the river Miko had found yesterday.

"Not liking this, especially after what we heard lives here," Jack uneasily said. Even Miko, who usually loved adventure, was less rash in her decisions as she nodded and carefully watched their surroundings. After making sure there were no giant sharks or killer dinos in the area, they left the brush and stalked towards the unsuspecting reptile.

"Ok, we need to make this quick before it flies off again. I'll throw this bola, and Raf will pelt that thing with stones until it's unconscious. Miko, you keep an eye out for any of the neighbors. Take Spitfire with you in case you see something. Then after we knock it out, you'll feed it while me and Raf watch our backs. Everyone got it?" said Jack. Raf nodded and got into position.

"You know, you're sounding more like Optimus used to the longer we're here." Miko states.

Jack laughed, saying, "Maybe that's why he trusted me with the Matrix,"

Raf stood right in front of the Ptera, which paid him no mind just like the Triceratops. Jack winded up the bola and threw it at the bird, aiming true and clipping its wings. Raf then proceeded to fire stones into its face, pelting it with five in a row. Just as he was about to fire his 6th stone, the Ptera collapsed in a heap onto the ground, eliciting a cry of joy from the teenagers.

"Y'know, that was a lot easier than I thought it would be," Jack admitted. "I swear it would've been too big for these flimsy things. Guess we're gonna need plenty more where these came from," he said, shaking the bola he held for emphasis. "Alright Miko, put the meat in its mouth and let's get rolling,"

Miko happily agreed, getting ready to put the meat in its mouth when her implant flashed and a screen popped up, showing them the different bars mentioned earlier in the book, as well as something else. "What's taming effectiveness?" she asked. Raf answered her, "Wild guess, but I think it means depending on how well the taming process goes, the better its level will be when it's finished." Accepting Raf's answer, Miko opened its inventory to try putting the meat in there instead when she came across a stat screen similar to theirs.

"Check it out! This thing has numbers just like us. Although they're wayyyy higher than ours," she relayed. The boys came to see, finding that the Ptera had 500 health and 210 stamina, much higher than their stats. "This thing is gonna be a beast!" Miko betted. She then put the meat and narcotics in its inventory and began feeding.

30 minutes into the taming process, a rustle in the bushes caught Raf's attention. Not one to leave things to chance, he informed Jack of his uneasiness. "Jack, I think we're being watched," he said with fear.

"Stay here," Jack told him, proceeding into the brush, bola in hand. He sent Spitfire in to investigate first. As soon as she got close to the bush, a blur of red jumped out at her, pinning her to the ground.

Jack recognized it immediately, screaming, "Raptor!" Miko looked up from the Ptera just in time to see the Rapror start clawing into Spitfire. In a panic, she drew her spear and charged the beast, screaming "Leave her alone!" She stabbed the nimble beast in the thigh, earning a shriek of pain and the full attention of the Raptor. It let go of Spitfire and charged at her. Before it could reach her, Miko threw the spear square at its head. The animal went limp as the spear went through its brain, killing it instantly. "Wow, that was brutal," she said, trying to regain her breath.

Behind her, another shriek rang out, sounding much angrier than the first. Another Raptor stood over the group's Ptera, face full of the dismembered wing membrane it had just ripped out of the dead reptile. It now roared angrily at Miko for killing its pack mate. It charged her, and without another spear, she prepared for the worst. When she felt nothing, she opened her eyes to see a bola around wrapped around the beast. Looking to her right, she saw Jack had just saved her from imminent death.

"Raf, shoot it!" he yelled.

Raf started shooting the Raptor with as many stones as he had. "This is for Spitfire!" he shouted in his war cry. After 17 stones hit across its body, the Raptor gave into fatigue and knocked out on the ground.

Raf was about to bring down his axe on its head, when Jack caught his hand before it crushed its skull. "Woah, slow down there killer, it's unconscious. You're the one who convinced us that animals are just trying to survive too," Jack reminded him.

"This is different! They took someone from us," he retorted in tears as he motioned to the still body of Spitfire. Blood covered her body from the many slashes and bites she suffered, staining her normally black and yellow hide.

"She trusted us, and we got her killed," Raf lamented as Jack and Miko patted his back to mourn their lost friend.

Suddenly, Spitfire gave a hard cough, alerting the group. They immediately ran over to find the Dilo was still hanging on to life, if only by the slimmest of health left.

"Give me your gloves!" Jack commanded. Raf took off his cloth gloves, allowing Jack to create a makeshift bandage to wrap around Spitfire's damaged frame. He then took some meat from the dead Raptor and fed it to her, the dinosaur showing slightly more activity as it reached out and took it from his hand. The team watched as her health climbed back, even if it was at an extremely slow pace.

"Spitfire, you're ok!" Raf exclaimed, wrapping the Dilo in a loose hug so as to not injure it further. Spitfire crooned at his touch, nuzzling against his chest. Jack and Miko looked at each other, deciding to leave Raf with his new friend. They then turned their heads to the unconscious Raptor as an idea sprung to Miko's head.

"Hey, you think we can tame the Raptor? Miko asked.

"I don't know, it did just try to kill us," Jack replied. "Yeah, and so did Spits before she became all cuddly. Plus, it can help protect us and Spitfire from the bigger and meaner dinos. Come on Jack, pleaseee?" Miko begged him with her puppy eyes.

Jack pondered for a minute, weighing the pros and cons before making his decision. "Alright, we'll tame it on ONE condition. We need Raf to approve,"

Miko accepted the terms and nodded, understanding that the topic of Raptors may had become a point of discomfort for the boy. The duo walked over to Raf and presented their proposal. Though he seemed hesitant to allow the same Raptor which tried to kill him and his friends into their little tribe, he understood the benefits of having another carnivore. He himself had even reached the engram level to craft a Raptor saddle. After some strong points made by Miko, Raf conceded to taming the swift hunter, if only to better protect him and his friends from the other wildlife on the island.

"Whatever helps us survive this place, but I'm keeping an eye on it when we get back" he had concluded. Miko smiled and thanked the boy before she and Jack began the taming process again. Luckily, the Pteranodon body still contained the narcotics and meet the bird had not yet used. Miko did sadden however at the state of their potential flying companion, wishing they could have saved it.

The team had spent the rest of the day and most of the night making sure the Raptor stayed unconscious and fed. A few times, they had heard the roar of the Spino on the wind as well as the sounds of another Raptor pack off in the distance. The team didn't dare rest that night. At the crack of dawn, the Raptor released a guttural groan before standing up. The team moved back in case it still had the urge for vengeance, tools and weapons at the ready. The man-sized dinosaur walked up to Jack, staring him square in the eyes. He put his hand out and looked away, hoping it would still be there when he opened them. Instead of biting him, the dinosaur laid its head down, putting its on his hand

"Well that's a welcome change," Jack said when a familiar blue glow appeared on his wrist. The naming screen appeared, leaving Jack to ponder what to call their newest scaly companion. He took a look at the dinosaur's colors for inspiration. It was a red color with a yellow underbelly and orange feathers. All in all a very flashy animal. _Flashy_ he thought, recollecting his memories about a certain sports car. It was then that it hit him, and he typed in the Raptor's new name.

"Looking a lot better now, aren't you Knockout?" he said as the Raptor crooned. A fitting name for how they tamed it and for its color scheme. The man-sized menace certainly had the same lethalness as the mad doctor himself. Jack looked at the Raptor's display to find it was a level 102 male, making it a lethal adversary just like the mad doctor himself. It was then Jack remembered something.

"Hey Raf, you said you saw the Raptor saddle in the engrams screen? The oldest teen asked. Raf nodded, accessing his inventory screen.

"It says that it needs 110 hide, 65 fiber, and 20 wood," he listed off.

Jack looked in his inventory and found that he had all the materials needed to make the saddle from his last hunting and gathering trip. He handed it all to Raf, who proceeded to learn and craft the engram. 2 minutes later, Raf handed the newly constructed saddle to Jack, who with Miko's help, fit it snugly on Knockout's back. The dinosaur bent down, offering them a ride.

"I wanna!" Exclaimed Miko, before hopping on its back and grabbing the reigns. She pulled out her torch, saying, "Follow me guys," as she rode the dinosaur along the beach back to their thatch hut with Jack and Raf peddling behind as they carried Spitfire.

By the time the group had arrived back at their shelter, the sun had already begun to rise. Exhausted from having to carry Spitfire, Jack and Raf had opted to go to sleep again. Miko noticed that Raf gave Knockout an uneasy look before going outside. She realized it was going to take a lot in order for the boy to trust the new addition to the group, especially after having witnessed it tear their Ptera to shreds. Deciding to leave the subject for the morning, she parked the Raptor next to the house with a fresh stack of meat.

"You stay here," she told it, before whistling to emphasize her point. She then went off to replace the resources that were used to craft the saddle. "Man, I hope there's gonna be an easier way of doing this eventually," she sighed as she chopped what felt like the hundredth tree in the last few days. She went through her engrams screen to check, and saw a smithy and refining forge as well as metal tools were in her range. _I should tell Jack and Raf tomorrow_ she concluded, hoping it would assist in their resource collection, as well as give all the metal they had laying around a use.

She headed back to the thatch hut after gathering more wood, stone, and small pockets of metal from rocks. Satisfied with her work, she headed to bed and let sleep take her, not realizing she had been watched and followed by a great predator.


	4. Housewarming

Raf woke up to chaos

He had been in a deep sleep, dreaming about the old days with the Autobots, when he was shaken from his stasis by heavy footfalls. He was getting out of his bed when suddenly, the wall started shaking. Unnerved, he roused Jack and Miko awake as his anxiety grew from the quaking walls. Jack was just getting out of bed, when suddenly the wall behind them exploded.

"Aghhh!" Raf grunted, pulling himself up from the floor, and face to face with a huge dinosaur nearly three times his size. It bent its head down, revealing a pair of sharp horns, as it aimed at Raf and prepared to impale him. _Carnotaurus _he surmised, his dread building as he stared down one of the strongest predators of the Cretaceous period.

"Help!" he screamed, pulling out his bow in a last ditch effort to defend himself. The Carno made its move, plowing forward through the opposite wall, with Raf just barely rolling out of the way. It then turned around, getting ready for another charge, when its stride was broken by Knockout, who had slashed at its thigh in a hit and run attack. The Carno redirected its focus on the Raptor as they exchanged threatening barks and roars.

The stalemate broke when Knockout lunged at the Carno mid roar and began tearing into its back. The mighty carnivore roared in pain as the hunter clawed and bit into it. Shuffling until Knockout was on its head, it thrusts its horns into his underbelly as it sent the Raptor flying through the walls of the thatch hut.

"Uh oh," Raf said, quickly attending to the fallen dinosaur. Knockout stood up again, putting himself between Raf and the Carno as it prepared to charge them both. Suddenly, it was hit in the eyes by a green spit and an arrow. Raf turned around to see Spitfire, mostly healed, running in to join the fight, as well as Jack and Miko bombarding the beast with arrows and spears.

The Carno roared in fury as it charged Miko and Jack. As Miko rolled away, it remembered the same trick that the tiny human had applied, and so used its tail to catch a surprised Miko with a tail slap. "Oof!" she yelled as she crashed into the row of beds.

"Hey! Get away from her!" Jack roared as he thrust a spear into the thigh of the Carno in the same spot Knockout had clawed it. The dinosaur backpedaled as it began losing balance. Standing like a drunkard, it prepared one final charge at Jack, the boy's eyes blazing with determination.

**_Skreee_**

Just as Jack was preparing to charge the Carno head on with his spear, he saw Knockout roar and ram it with his head, with Raf of all people on his back. The Carno fell through another wall as the ceiling finally gave way, crushing the bull lizard as it toppled over.

"We did it," Raf shakily proclaimed. He then climbed down from the Raptor to make sure Miko was ok, when suddenly the Carno pulled its head out of the rubble, giving a defiant last roar. Mid-roar however, Knockout slammed his jaws shut on the larger predator's throat and squeezed, suffocating it until it went limp. When the newly made corpse dropped to the ground, the Raptor bellowed and called triumphantly before taking some meat and dropping it at Raf's feet.

"Uh, thank you?" he awkwardly accepted the chunk of meat before quickly sliding it towards Spitfire to eat. He then turned to Miko to check her wounds.

"It's all good, Soundwave hit me harder back when we helped trash that zombie con horde," she said, accepting Raf's hand to help her back up.

"Hey, at least you got one heck of a wake up call," Raf said to which Miko laughed along. They stopped laughing as they took a good look around at the carnage their battle had caused.

"I think we should start looking into real estate," Miko joked.

Jack surveyed the damaged hut and came to the same conclusion. "I think that this attack made it pretty clear that this place isn't safe. Thatch is way to flimsy for us to make a central base out of. So I say we start making some wood structures and make something more practical. And a lot more appealing," he suggested, dropping a fistful of thatch.

"Yeah, this thatch was getting kinda itchy anyways," Raf admitted. It was then decided that the team would spend the day making a new shelter out of wood structures. Jack worked on the walls and foundations as Miko went off to make the ceilings. Raf was tasked with creating door frames and doors for their newly planned rooms as well as replacing the structures lost in the attack.

As Raf was gathering stone for the new mortar and pestle, Miko came up to him. "Hey Raf, check out what I found last night," she said, kneeling and showing him the refining forge and smithy she found in her list, as well as the metal tools.

"Think it'd make this gathering stuff a lot faster for us and a lot easier on you," she stated as she pointed to Raf's arm. He had to admit, the amount of trees and rocks he had chopped we're starting to make him sore, and each one only yielded 20-30 wood.

"If you grab the stone, I should be able to make it," he said, wanting a break from the monotonous task.

"Sweet, be right back she said before bolting off. Raf decided to spend his time laying in the remains of his bed with Spitfire by his side as he waited for Miko to return.

* * *

Miko had taken Knockout along as she traversed the beach, looking for more large clusters of rocks to hit. As she was getting ready to harvest a particularly large rock, a green light suddenly appeared behind her. From the top, she could see that there was another one of those loot crates Jack had told them about. Deciding to abandon her current task for something much cooler, she waited with the Raptor as she watched it descend to the ground. When it touched down, she opened its inventory.

_Please be something cool _she thought. When she looked at the contents, she found a fully made refining forge as well as a blueprint for a _ramshackle Raptor saddle. _"Ask and you shall receive," she said coolly. "Wait till Raf sees this," she said before hopping on Knockout and scampering back to their base.

* * *

While Miko and Raf were off building and getting structures, Jack was building wooden walls and foundations as he planned out in his head how to structure their new home. "Let's see, we all need rooms, a kitchen, and maybe a second floor," he thought out loud.

He was tempted to just create a giant wooden box, but his creativity refused to allow him to make such a bland design. He crafted a note and began drawing different designs for their house before finally settling on a two story cabin with multiple rooms and different sections for different purposes.

Upstairs would contain their separate rooms as well as a small storage room in a hallway that spans all around the house. It would also have access to a landing pad on pillars for their future Pteranodon as well as a balcony overlooking the ocean. Downstairs would be their "preserving bin" area, where they stored their perishables such as meat in a corner. On the side of the room, a table full of mortar and pestles would be set for their different chemical needs, as well as a table with chairs for all three of them to eat at. In the back of the cabin would be one dinosaur gate, integrated into the walls and large enough to let Knockout inside easily should the need arise. He still had some empty space, but Jack believed that with how quickly they were learning engrams, they would find new structures to fill it soon. And so he found a flat part of the beach at the water's edge and placed down a wooden foundation, working to make their new abode a reality

* * *

Raf had just gotten up from his nap, getting ready to gather more stone for the forge, when Miko came bounding back with Knockout. "Hey Raf! No need to make a forge anymore," she said as they bounded over to the broken thatch hut.

"And why's that?" He asked.

Miko lowered her inventory screen to him, telling him, "Check it." Raf looked at the screen and saw a refining forge was already made.

"How'd you get that?" he asked. She then explained how another green supply drop had appeared, giving her the forge and a Raptor saddle. Raf nodded, making a mental note to take Spitfire on an adventure for the next green drop.

"Let's go check on Jack, maybe he can help us figure out where to put this," Raf stated. Miko nodded, and they took the dinosaurs to where Jack had gone to gather wood.

* * *

Jack had just finished laying down the foundations for the new cabin by the sea. It was a large cabin with a 11x11 bed of foundations which would be supporting walls that would be 7 high. He had just finished laying down the third row of walls and windows around the wooden square when Miko and Raf came along.

"Hey Jack, nice place you got going," Raf greeted.

"Thanks, and it'll look a lot better when it has a roof on it. Speaking of, Miko, you got those ceilings?" Jack requested.

Miko nodded, dropping 40 wooden ceilings she had made earlier. "It would've helped if you told me you were building a whole mansion," Miko pouted.

Jack just crossed his arms and smiled, explaining, "Hey, that's just Darby ingenuity." With that, Miko ran off to get more wood for building. Jack then asked Raf to help build the second floor to their new home. As they worked, Raf began staring at the green obelisk, contemplating their purpose on the island.

"Hey Jack, did you ever wonder why we're on this island? We never did anything wrong, and the only ones who know about the Autobots are us and Agent Fowler after MECH was disassembled. Who would do this to us?" he lamented. He missed his family and friends, and even though he had Spitfire, he still wished he could see them all again.

Jack kneeled down to comfort him. "Hey, we're gonna find a way off this island. I don't know how, but we will. But only if we don't give up, just like Bee', Arcee, and the rest of the Autobots," he told him. It wasn't his best pep talk, but it seemed to work as the younger boy cracked a small smile and nodded. They worked in silence until Miko came bounding back with Knockout just as the boys had finished making the second floor hallway.

"You guys will not BELIEVE what I just did," she shouted. Jack hopped down from the second floor to meet her.

"Made enough sloped wooden ceilings to complete the roof?" Jack suggested, to which Miko sighed exasperatedly. "No genius, I just knocked out a level 150 Pteranodon," she said with a cocky grin, slingshot in-hand for emphasis. Raf and Jack looked at her, surprised she had the patience to follow and knock out the bird all by herself as well as find such a high level.

"Alright, I'll grab the narcotics. Raf, grab Spitfire so we're a little safer. She should be healed by now. Miko, get every weapon we have. This can wait," Jack instructed. Secretly, he was slightly angry that their last attempt at taming ended with a dead Pteranodon, so he thought of this as a redemption for their last venture. With Knockout at their side too, Jack was feeling confident they could pull this off.

10 minutes later, Jack came back with their 80 narcotics. Miko gave each of the boys a bow and 20 arrows to defend themselves, as well several spears. Raf took Spitfire for a hunting trip, so the little Dilo had enough meat for herself and for the Ptera. After all preparations were set, Miko mounted Knockout and held out her torch as she led the group into the wilderness once more.

* * *

**Chapter is shorter this time around. It's hard making building sound entertaining. Next chapter will be better, just had minor loss of motivation. And if any of you are wondering, we will be checking in on the Autobots in a near chapter. So as always, thank you for reading and please review!**


	5. The Art of Flight

**Yes! This story is not dead! But I will warn anyone who follows it that I may take a while between updates because of my other story at the moment. But I'm not giving up, especially now that I'm back into ARK in the real world too. Plus, I've greatly improved in how I format and do my writing, so I wanna see how far I've come since I started this story. Anyways, here's chapter 5!**

**To ArcticWolfGirl, I'm glad I can give off that vibe, it's what I originally had in mind when making this fic. It's just that ARK is so open ended it's hard to capture that survival feel in words. And yes, that makes both Lachlan and my luck haha**

**To DamontheSavage, glad to deliver (:**

* * *

Team Prime ventured further inland than they were used to, venturing further upriver than Jack or Raf had ever gone. Miko gave Raf a turn riding Knockout as he was struggling to keep up with the others. As the group continued forward, they noticed a few new species, such as small Raptor-like creatures with large eyes and more pronounced feathers. The species name eluded Raf's memory, but the group deduced from its appearance that it was probably best to leave them be. They didn't seem to heed the group's presence either way.

The taming party finally came to a large grassland near the floating green obelisk. Many species of herbivores could be seen across the stretch, from Brontos to Stegos to Gallimimus. In the middle of it all lay a prone purple figure, collapsed in a heap in the middle of the plains.

"There!" Miko directed, spurring the party forward.

Jack immediately ran forward to examine the unconscious bird. "It's about to wake up!" he stressed. Quickly, he began feeding the birds narcotics until its unconsciousness rose again fully.

"Close one," he muttered. Raf then got ready to feed the flying reptile before running into a problem.

"Uh guys, Spitfire ate all the meat," he addressed. The little Dilo has consumed all 5 stacks of meat on the trek there.

"No biggie," said Miko, "I can get more with Knockout. But what can we take down?"

The group scanned the plains for any viable source of meat when their eyes fall upon a Stegosaurus locked in battle with a Carnotaurus. The stubby-armed hunter made several feints at the plated herbivore, trying to bait it into attack. The armored beast held its ground, waving its menacing tail around in intimidation. The Stego finally struck, swinging its tail at the Carno, which narrowly dodged the blow. While the Stego turned for another swing, the Carno rammed the herbivore's side with its horns, goring flesh and fracturing bone. The Stego roared in pain as it attempted to rebalance itself. The Carno used this to its advantage as it attempted to bite down on the head, however the Stego had recovered its footing and dodged the jaws aimed at its throat, allowing it to hit the hunter in the leg, badly injuring it.

"Get that homewrecker, spikey!" Miko cheered in a hushed voice

The two dinosaurs squared each other up again, waiting for the other to make a move. The Carno once again charged into the Stego's side with its horns, this time completely crushing the ribs of the plated beast as it screamed out in pain. The carnivore kept pushing, attempting to force the Stego on its side and expose its underbelly. The herbivore used this opportunity to once again batter the hunter's leg with its tail. Instead of letting it get away again, the Stego used its spikes to drag the Carno in closer. As the carnivore desperately tried to bite the Stego, it put its head in the direct path of another tail swing. The spiked tail collided with the horned skull at full force. The fallen hunter hung limp from the great herbivores tail until it slumped to the ground. The Stego grunted a victory roar before limping away from the scene.

Team Prime watched the whole spectacle of nature unfold with awe. Looking between each other, they took a minute before realizing this was the opportunity they were looking for.

"I'll get Knockout to harvest, you two watch over the Pteranodon," directed Jack.

Nodding, the two took Spitfire with them while Jack harvested the body of the Carnotaurus. Once the carcass was eaten, he went into the Utahraptor's inventory.

"Huh, prime meat? Maybe this will come in handy," he said to himself.

He then rushed back after realizing the rapid spoil rate. Coming to the fallen bird, he motioned his friends to the side as he added the prime meat with the regular meat. Instantly, the taming bar jumped up far more than regular meat gave them.

"Alright! That gave us like 4% more," shouted Miko in triumph.

"And his taking effectiveness is staying up. It says 56 levels," pointed out Raf.

While the two other members of his group were enjoying their little breakthrough, Jack kept an eye to the horizon. The sun was nearly down, and his primal instincts and common sense warned him that dangerous predators become more active at night. Not one to take chances, he turned to Miko and Raf.

"You guys get back to base before dark. I'll finish the tame and saddle it once it's done."

Miko whined, "No way Jose, this is too awesome to pass up! And we're not leaving you all alone out here."

"Yeah Jack, strength in numbers, right?" Raf added.

"Listen guys I know it's not the best solution, but we're not sure what else lives here yet. For all we know, that Spinosaurus from before can come stomping down the river, and I'm sure Knockout can't bail us out of that." Jack then stuck up a thumbs up, reassuring, "If anything, I'll hop in the bushes while I wait. Something that big should be able to miss me. A Raptor, Dilo, and 3 kids though? Not so stealthy."

Biting their lips, the other two members had to concede he had a point. "Fine," Miko caved. "But next time I get to finish the tame," she said before mounting Knockout. "Let's go Raf, sun's going down."

Raf hesitantly complied as he looked back worried. "Be careful Jack!" he called before taking Spitfire with him into the woods.

Now that his friends were gone, Jack stared at the fallen reptile. "Now it's just you and me, razor wings," he muttered, taking notice of the sharpness of the wings. "Huh, that's not a bad name."

And so he waited, picking berries and drawing in the dirt to pass the time. _Man, I could really use some good old television right now_ he thought as he tried drawing the Pteranodon in the dirt.

Suddenly, another rustle in the bushes caught his attention. _Well this ended badly the last time I went. Maybe I'll just hang back _he thought. He kept his torch out though, and decided to humor his imagination as he looked to the bush. Immediately, he wished he didn't.

"Uhhhhh, I don't suppose you guys are herbivores, right?!" he panicked as he looked at 4 glowing pairs of eyes staring at him. Then, one of the eyes lunged out of the bush, getting ready to attack!

"Stay back!" he shouted, waving the torch in an attempt at intimidation.

Surprisingly, the glowing eyes hissed at the light, backing up slowly. This however gave Jack the chance to catch a view of his nimble assailant. It was a small therapod, roughly the height to his thigh. It was grey, ran like the wind, and had nearly hateful eyes. Jack shivered at the idea of fighting one of these.

"Yeah, keep your fangs to yourself!" he shouted at him, gaining more confidence as he watched them recoil. Unfortunately, the moment didn't last.

_Ttsssss_

"That's not good," he nervously sweated as his torch went out. Now, the little creatures were hissing with fury.

_Grrrahhgrah_

Behind him, Jack heard the sound of the Pteranodon waking up. Thanking whatever gods there were in this weird place, he started to sprint back to the bird, pulling out the saddle mid run.

"Come on Razor Wing, hold still!" he panicked, trying to get the saddle on the flying reptile. The little monsters were nearly on top of them when Jack clicked the last part of the saddle into place.

"Come on girl, fly!" he ushered, and with a snap of the reigns, they were in the air, flying away from the snapping therapies.

"Phew! You really saved my bacon there, huh girl? If you are a girl..." trailed off Jack as he leaned to the side and looked underneath him. "Yeah, I think girl," he concluded as he flew them back to base, using the obelisk as reference. This was enough excitement for one day.


	6. The Dead Planet

**I would like to say that I am really sorry for taking so long with these chapters. I was working on my other story and I just hadn't had motivation to come back to this one until I started getting back into ARK again. Thank you though to everyone who has fav'd and followed this so far. I promise this story will keep going! Now, I know some of you have been itching to get back to the Autobots, so here it is.**

**To AinLinx, wait no more because we're back in business (sort of)**

**To 1SilverandGold1, that's alright, most people who play ARK extensively have no idea how the story goes either haha. But all your questions are gonna get answered at some point or another in the story, just gotta get Team Prime built up from cowering in a thatch hut hehe. Also, here is your Autobots chapter (:**

"Where's Jack? It's been a while since he told us to come back," mumbled a concerned Raf to himself. It had been nearly an hour since the sun had gone down, and an hour and a half since they had last seen Jack.

"He'll be fine, Raf. The dude has the wit to outsmart _Megatron _of all people. I bet he's gonna land right here with that flying reptile any min-ow!" Miko started before she was interrupted mid sentence. Raf could only watch as a few hundred pounds of teenage boy and prehistoric reptile crashed into Miko.

"Hey! What's the big idea Jack?" groaned Miko, only to find that the other teen was slumped in the saddle drooling. Concerned, she searched her friend up and down, worried that something bad had happened. After a while, she saw a few tiny teeth marks had appeared on Jack's ankle. Fearing the worst, she checked his pulse, sighing in relief to find it was still present. He was still breathing too, so he must be sleeping or unconscious.

"Is he alright Miko?" asked Raf.

Miko nodded, stating, "Yeah, he's alive at least. Looks like something bit his ankle though."

At this, Jack suddenly yawned as if he had woken from an afternoon nap. "Hey guys. Wait, how did I end up here?"

Raf and Miko gave the boy a deadpan expression as Miko huffed, "You tell us flyboy. What do you think you were doing sleeping at the wheel 100 feet in the air?"

Jack stuttered as he tried to regain any memory of what had happened. "What? No, that can't be right. I remember taking off with the Pteranodon before these glowy eyed raptor things tried to munch me. One grazed me, and then I put my head down to rela- oh." Jack rubbed the back of his head as he realized his mistake.

"Hmm, if I remember from the fossil records right, one species of bipedal dinosaur had traces of venom glands in its jaw. Were they around the size of your knee?" Raf inquired.

Jack rubbed his chin as he pondered, "Hmm, yeah. I'd say about knee height is a good estimate."

"Then you must have run into a couple of Troodons. Apparently they might have paralyzing venom. Honestly, from what the records say, you're lucky you managed to tame that Pteranodon when you did. Troodons are just as bad as raptors to run into in the middle of night."

"I'm aware," Jack replied as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn't believe he let the thing nick him in the ankle. One second more and he would've been having his insides being used for kielbasa. "Look, the important thing is that we've got something that can actually _fly_ now, so we can get a better idea of this weird island. It's already night, so why don't we get some shuteye and tomorrow we can use Razor Wing here to try and do some exploring?"

"Oh you'd love that, wouldn't you Mr. Drowsy," joked Miko. But she agreed, and together they returned to their now rebuilt and upgraded wooden hut to sleep in for the night.

* * *

"Get ready boys, we're going to be entering Earth's orbit in less than 2 minutes," Arcee informed as she started disengaging light speed on their ship.

Bumblebee and Bulkhead prepared themselves as they got ready to touch down on the planet they saw as a second home. "Hey Bee, what do you think we'll see down there?" asked the large wrecker. It had been a while since he had visited the blue planet ever since Miko had passed.

"Beats me. Maybe now that humans can use energon, things might start looking more like home?" the Autobot scout offered.

"Maybe. Let's just hope MECH isn't running the parade like last time. Last thing I want to see is a knockoff Megatron," joked Bulkhead.

"Ha! Gonna be hard to copy something THAT ugly." Bumblebee then turned back towards Arcee as he asked, "Hey Cee', what do you think we'll see down there?" Getting no response, he walked over to the cockpit to check on his friend from concern. "Arcee? Hey, I'm supposed to be the silent one, remember? What's goi- Oh my Primus."

Arcee simply sat there with her mouth hanging wide open. But that's not what had shocked the young scout, but rather what was out their window. Everything that their instruments read indicated that the planet before them was Earth, the flourishing blue planet they had defended so valiantly. Home of the human race.

This was not Earth. It looked more akin to Cybertron after they had fled during the Great War. Gone were the blue oceans that covered most of the planet, as well as the lush green continents. In their place was just a brown orb of dirt. The planet seemed to have ceased its orbit as well, having come to a standstill. By all means, life should not have been possible on this broken world.

"Come on Bee, don't tell me you lost you voice box aga- Arcee? Did you make a wrong turn somewhere? This looks NOTHING like Earth." Bulkhead tried to reason as he tried to deny this was the same planet they had called a home away from home.

"I-I don't know," stuttered Arcee in shock. "All of the navigation instruments say that this is where it should be. Ratchet's signal came from this planet. This has to be Earth, but it just can't."

Bumblebee had never seen his friend this emotional since the loss of Cliffjumper. And why wouldn't she? It was like losing Cybertron all over again. "We need to get on the ground," he declared. "Land us back where Jasper used to be, if you can find it. We need to find Ratchet to see if he has any idea what happened since we were gone."

The blue bot complied, steeling her resolve as she steered the ship towards what was once the western part of the United States, now a barren wasteland.

* * *

The Autobot ship made a clean descent as it landed on the dead planet. Lowering the drawbridge, the Autobots stepped out onto the rough dirt of what used to be Jasper. All around them, they saw nothing but wasteland. Jasper's buildings were nothing more than decayed reminders of the past. Farther from the broken town, the bots could see behind some mountains a broken city of unknown origin. Part of a building was pulsating a light blue, and they could already tell that energon was involved in its creation.

"Wow, that's actually kind of impressive," admitted Bulkhead. He hadn't thought humans would be able to match up to Cybertronian architects, but it wasn't half bad for an organic species that only had experience with Energon building for half a century.

Bumblebee brought his team's focus back to their mission as he stated, "Alright, first order of business is to locate Ratchet just like Ultra Magnus said. After that, we can figure out what in the name of the Allspark is going on."

"Right," nodded his companions as they all transformed and got ready to speed off in the direction of the signal, but the flapping of wings caused them to pause. Looking towards the sky, they saw a massive set of wings coming at them at high speeds.

"No way. There's no way that's a Predacon flying at us right now," Bulkhead said in disbelief as the trio prepared for combat. When the creature got closer, it was undeniable that it had the shape of a Predacon, but it lacked the two extra legs in the front. The thing was also organic, ensuring them that it was not of Cybertronian origin. But the most striking part was the purple coloration that lined its body and the decaying effect it seemed to cause.

"Move!" Arcee shouted as she rolled out of the way, just in time to avoid a breath of purple fire that would've most certainly burnt any organics to a crisp.

"That's an organic Predacon!" cried Bulkhead as he opened fire on the beast. The large animal weaved between his plasma shots as it turned around for another pass. Bumblebee used this opportunity to jump onto Bulkhead's back and give the flying nuisance a hard punch to the snout.

"That's not a Predacon! Raf used to call them dragons and wyverns. But those were supposed to be myths!" the yellow Autobot yelled out as he concentrated fire on the wyvern.

"Well I've never heard of a myth that's been corrupted by Dark Energon!" shouted Arcee as she transformed into her bike form. Racing up a rock outcropping, the femme bot flew through the sky before landing on the corrupted wyvern's back. Equipping her blade function in her arms, she stabbed the creature in the back and wing, causing it to release a guttural cry as it crashed into the ground. She only retracted the blades once she was sure the creature was dead.

Stepping back to observe it, Arcee joined her friends as they examined the corpse. "Wow, Dark Energon is not a good look on organics huh?" Bulkhead whistled as Bumblebee kneeled to inspect it.

"I know Dark Energon can corrupt a bot or an organic's mind, but seeing it transform an organic's body has got to mean that this poor thing has been suffering from its effects for a really long time." The scout turned part-time leader was about to take a DNA sample for whenever they found Ratchet, but the body seemed to rapidly decompose, startling him and the other Autobots. In mere seconds, the body had decayed as if there was never a wyvern at all.

"Whoa, freaky," commented the Wrecker as he watched with a stunned expression.

"Um boys? We've got more company!" called out Arcee as she swiveled her head to her six. Behind her, a powerful _ROOOOAAAARRR_ sounded as over the horizon, a large reptilian figure almost as large as Bulkhead came from the horizon. Its feet made thunderous shakes as it moved, shaking the very earth that it walked upon. Its gaping maw revealed rows of sharp teeth that would easily slice through their circuits. And once again, this poor creature was covered in the terrible black and purple substance that had covered the wyvern.

"I can't believe it. That's a Tyrannosaurus Rex!" exclaimed Bumblebee. He remembered before the old base in the rock had been destroyed, Raf would tell him all about the dinosaurs that had once roamed the Earth, and he had to admit he had spent some spare time researching them when he was bored at base. Of course, he had faced his own dinosaurs when he had dealt with Predaking, but now he knew what Jack, Miko, and Raf had felt as he gazed at the ancient predator of another world.

"You mean those extinct lizards that Raf would always talk to you about?" clarified Arcee. She knew about the tyrant lizard and some other species the young boy would get engrossed about, but she never paid too much attention. Now she suddenly wished she listened more to their human encyclopedia when she had the chance as the powerful figure walked over to challenge them.

"Well it's about to become extinct again!" shouted Bulkhead as he gave a war cry before charging into the apex predator. The Rex gave a cry of its own as it charged its thick head into Bulkhead's chest, shocking the bot with the surprising amount of power it had. Using his wrecking ball module, the went to smack the dinosaur across the face, but the Rex ducked under it before clamping onto his arm.

"Ow! You better have some good dental insurance," the angered Bulkhead grunted as he pulled his arm free from its iron grip. He switched to a blaster and pelted its hide just as Arcee did the same. The Rex staggered as it took shot after shot, clearly weakening in its balance, before Bumblebee in car form rammed into its side, shattering its femur. The Rex fell and gave one least guttural cry of defeat before laying still on the ground.

"There's no denying it, this is Earth," Bumblebee sadly relented as he looked at the corpse of the mighty lizard they had felled. Unless Unicron packed up his spark and left to another solar system, there was no other explanation as to why there was so much Dark Energon coursing through these creatures' bodies and minds. It was like a hive mind, but even Unicron wouldn't want this planetary devastation to occur on _himself._

"Alright, that settles it. This isn't the planet that we knew. Not anymore. We need to find Ratchet and get our afts back to Cybertron so we can report. This is something that the entire Transformer race needs to know about," declared Arcee.

_RRAAAAAAAGHHHHH__!_

Groaning as she was starting to get tired of the attacks, Arcee once again looked to the horizon and could feel the energon leave her faceplate as Bumblebee and Bulkhead felt the same feeling.

In the distance, an enormous creature that the bots had never even heard of roared into the sky. The beast was massive, easily the size of Unicron's giant drone form if not much larger. Its legs were as thick as Predaking was tall, and its mighty tail swished behind it as it casually knocked over some human-made energon buildings. The thing had more muscles than anything Team Prime had ever seen, and the entire body was covered in rock hard scales. The only sign of weakness came from a giant X mark on its chest, as if it had been slashed across its midsection and the wound had healed wrong.

The behemoth gave another cry, and as it did, they could see a sea of purple bodies rise from its feet. Whatever this thing was, it seemed to be the leader of the corruption that had spread across the land. And right now, the Titan had its hateful eyes set on the 3 Cybertronians that dared trespass on HIS planet.

"Get to the ship! NOW!" panicked Arcee as they all gunned it for the ship. Arcee was already at the controls as Bumblebee and Bulkhead manned the weapons. Right as they were about to take off, corrupted wyverns arrived to try to prevent their escape. They managed to blast the creatures away as they flew off over the mountain. As much as they wanted to leave, they couldn't abandon one of their own on this inhospitable world until they were certain he was either safe or gone. Team Prime was really hoping on the former.

As they crested the mountain range, Arcee detected the origin of the transmission. "There!" she pointed, and after making sure the giant beast hadn't jumped over the mountain, she landed their vessel inside of the broken city they had seen before.

It was impressive; the humans had made greater structures since the last time they were here, all thanks to Energon, or as the bots had come to learn, "Element" as they called it. The buildings stretched higher than anything that had been built before, literally reaching for the clouds back when there were any. The streets were wide and vast, no doubt facilitating a number of hi-tech vehicles in and out of the city. Gates were erected to keep the inhabitants safe from the outside. It was a forgotten metropolis. A Sanctuary in a dangerous world.

"That building over there. That's where the signal came from," pointed Bumblebee. It was one of the buildings that were near a strange green obelisk of light. Following the highway, the transformed Autobots sped towards the grand structure, now laid low by nature and time. Bumblebee blasted his way in through a part of the outside showing structural weakness, and as they entered, they found all types of hi-tek medical equipment.

"If there's one place you can find Ratchet at, it's a hospital," smirked Bumblebee. The trio of bots entered through the hole in the wall, finding that the hallways were rather massive _They must have built it with Cybertronians in mind _thought Arcee as they searched the halls for their long lost friend, and as they took the elevator shaft down to the garage, they found what they had come for.

"Ratchet!" exclaimed Bumblebee as approached the limp form of the cranky field medic. Fearing the worst, Bumblebee checked his with his scanners. The scans showed that he was alive, but in stasis and dangerously low on Energon. He pulled out an emergency Energon container as he found a pump in the wall to funnel the substance through.

"I'll deliver the Energon. You two stay back," Arcee said quickly. She had done surgery on Ratchet before, so this would be cake. She just had to be sure she attached the nozzles carefully or the offline mech would lose what little he had left.

"Aaaaaand, done. Now we just have to insert the container," she said to herself. Putting said container in the pump, she allowed the Cybertronian lifebood to flow into their old companion's body. Slowly but surely, his optics started to glow brighter until he woke with a start.

"Ah! Unhand me you murderous beasts!" cried the field medic as he slashed at air with his blade, nearly taking off Bulkhead's top.

"Whoa whoa! Calm down Doc, it's us!" Bulkhead assured with his hands up, and Ratchet blinked his optics as he finally took in the sight before him.

"Bumblebee? Arcee? Bulkhead? You're finally here!" he chimed. "My apologies, I had thought you were more of those blasted Raptors. Those pests put Scraplets to shame when they're hopped up on Dark Energon."

"Ratchet, not that we aren't happy to see that you're still functioning, but do you think you can tell us why we nearly had out afts ripped apart by extinct and mythical animals coated in Dark Energon?" Arcee said, trying to get to the bottom of the Earth's state.

"Yeah, and why there's a lizard the size of Trypticon trying to send us to the scrapyard?" added Bulkhead.

"And why the Earth looks like it went through another mass extinction? We couldn't even recognize it from how its orbit came to a standstill," Bumblebee finished.

"Slow down! Give an old mech some time after stasis to- wait, you said there was a giant lizard creature still roaming the world?"

After receiving nods from all three Autobots, Ratchet held his face in his hands. "By the Allspark, how could it have ever gotten to this point?" He then frowned as he asked, "How long did it take for my distress signal to reach Cybertron?"

The three Autobots glanced at each other as they tried to decide who would tell him. "Well?" he demanded.

Bumblebee stepped forward as he sighed before answering, "Ratchet, your signal didn't reach us until two centuries after it was sent."

The field medic felt himself losing balance after that statement, to which Bulkhead had to make sure he didn't tip himself over. "Great Primus, it's already too late," he muttered hopelessly. He had hoped to save this world from making such a grave mistake, but it was too late for that now.

"We have to get back to Cybertron. This planet, unless the humans did what I hoped they would do, is doomed. This requires the full attention of any Cybertronian who will give the time of day to listen."

The others nodded. It was clear that whatever the field medic had experienced, it had been traumatic for him. They would ask for more of the details when they went to brief Ultra Magnus or on the way back. "Follow us to the ship," said Arcee as they exited the building.

Taking Ratchet to their ship, the crew got ready to take off for Cybertron when the same piercing roar from before sounded in the distance. Rising above the city, the team was horrified to find the giant lizard from before had followed them all the way to the edge of the city. As they tried to blast away, it opened its maw and released a purple ball of energy at them.

"Veer right!" screamed Bumblebee as Arcee shifted the control as hard right as she could, barely able to dodge the projectile. Bulkhead and Bee fired some shots at the monster, but it didn't seem to have any effect on its thick hide.

"That was a close one," Bulkhead said aloud, glad they had gotten out of range to be shot at again.

Arcee glared into space as they reached the atmosphere. "We are coming back with the entire Autobot army. That _thing _will not desecrate what we protected," she said fiercely. But just as they were about to take off into light speed, something went awry.

"The ship won't move! It's like we're caught in some kind of tractor beam!" shouted the femme. She tried to gun the engines, but was shocked when the ship seemed to disappear! All that remained were blue outlines of its circuitry, and even that faded away as the four bots floated in space.

"What's happening?!" yelped Bumblebee. Looking up at the tractor beam, Team Prime was surprised to find a large metal structure floating in orbit around Earth. Looking around, many more could be seen circling the planet, though their purpose eluded all but one bot.

"Guys? I can't feel my fingers!" yelled Bulkhead, but soon he started disappearing just like the ship had.

"Bulk!" screamed Bumblebee and Arcee as they watched their friend be turned into nothingness. They had no time to lament though, as soon they found themselves disappearing as well until only Ratchet remained.

As he felt his fingers going numb as well, strangely, he had a small smile on his face as he said, "Hm, it seems they decided to listen to me after all." Staring at the transparent figure of a human above him, he gave a small wave as he too disappeared from the void of space.


	7. Everyone Hates the Swamp

**Thought I'd get an early start on this chapter. Not my best work, but hopefully it's up to par.**

* * *

"That could of gone better," The One who Waits admitted to herself.

She hated how she had to rush the interaction, but she couldn't just let the Autobots go back to their home planet just yet. They had yet to understand, and unless they did, they would simply call their army they were mentioning and destroy the planet. They needed to know what the System was built for.

Plus, the irony was not lost on her on that instead instead of being abducted, she was the one abducting the aliens.

At least the rusty red ambulance didn't need to know. After all, he was one of the creators of the System, so that saved her a headache and a half explaining it to the cranky robot. She rather liked the rag-tag group from what she had observed on their entry. In particular she liked the spicy blue female. She reminded her a little bit of Diana and Mei Yin with that natural leadership she had. She also reminded her of herself a long time ago before her ascension with that snarky wit about her. Definitely strong and good qualities to have for a survivor, which in a sense, she was. Life as an Autobot must have been hard considering how few there had been at the time. She hoped they did well for themselves in their home planet.

"They'll be alright, for now," she concluded. She'd make sure they stayed healthy in stasis, as they were an important part of her plan.

But they weren't the only important part.

Turning her attention away from the Autobots sitting in giant TEK sleeping pods, the Homo Deus floated over a computer containing a hologram of the Island. Using her control over the System, she transferred her conscience over to the "Ragnarok" station. A fitting name, considering the survivors she was about to deposit there.

Pulling up a file of some sacred viking texts, she read them to herself as she stroked her transparent chin in thought.

"Vikings, hmm? Of course it would be those buggers who started the dragon craze," she mused. Using the vast network of technology, she started turning it into biology as she reconstructed the bodies of some of the pioneers to the idea of taming, as well as their trusty companions. She also created a copy of the dossier book since this particular station had no explorer notes.

"Let's see how you do when faced with your Ragnarok," she concluded before sending the two humans and two dragons down to the surface. "Good luck mates, I'm counting on you," she said as she transferred back to her self dubbed "Prime Island".

She would have said their actual names before sending them off, but Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was a bit of a mouthful. At least Astrid was nice and simple.

* * *

Back on the Island, Jack was getting some serious airtime with their new Pteranodon friend.

"Woohoo!" cheered Jack as Razor Wing sped into a barrel roll between some trees. "When I'm legally allowed, I am so getting registered for a wingsuit," he said to himself. Raf and Miko had already taken their turn with their new flying buddy with similar reactions, though Raf still needed a little more time to get over his fear of heights. They had taken care to make sure not to over exert their animals lest they be left winded and vulnerable. They didn't even need their implants to tell them the stamina, as they started feeling connected to their tames on a physical level, including exhaustion.

"Alright girl, take 5," Jack said as he climbed off the Pteranodon's back. They had landed in the same open field as before in hopes of finding more Pteras. It wasn't fair that Razor Wing had to lug all 3 of them wherever they pleased, so it was proposed that while Jack was out flying and scouting for potential tames, Miko and Raf would work on creating more narcotics.

So far, he had seen a Triceratops around level 130 and a pair of Pteranodons that were level 95 and 115 respectively. He could see all of them having a use in their team, and so he had waited for them to fly over the plains before trying to ensnare them with a bola.

"But first, a drink," the young man said to himself as he dipped his water skin in the river by the obelisk. As he was filling the little sac, he noticed some movement in the water's surface. Fearing it was those jerk-off piranhas that had snacked on Knockout and Miko's behinds earlier, he pulled out a spear as he prepared to skewer it.

The otter paid no heed as it chirped at the strange monkey with the long stick.

Blinking twice, Jack hurriedly put away the spear before facepalming himself at confusing an otter for a fish. "Sorry about that little guy, didn't see you completely there," he apologized. The otter seemed to regard him shortly before it dove back in the water and caught a passing fish.

_"Hmm, I wonder?"_ thought Jack as he watched the little mammal bob its head underwater. Checking to see there were no piranhas or bus sized sharks, Jack eased himself into the water before pulling out his spear again. Carefully waiting for a fish to pass by him, he held the spear point at the water's surface before thrusting it quickly down into the body of a particuarly large fish.

"Guess playing The Forest really paid off," mused the young man as he tossed the fish body onto the bank, occasionally feeding the small ones to Razor Wing.

Once he tossed the fifth small fry in a row to the flying reptile, it dawned on him that he had one of the best fishermen of the Mesozoic right next to him. Smacking his forehead again, he saddled the Pteranodon as he hovered it close to the water. He let go of the tension on the reigns, indicating for the Ptera to do its thing. Razor Wings patiently hovered over the water until an especially plump Coelcanth tried to make a break past her sharp eye. In one quick snap, the fish was squirming in its mouth as it tossed it onto the bank.

"That's what I'm talking about girl," Jack praised as he rubbed the top of her head. The Ptera cawed at the praise as it started to really get busy with the fishing. Now that it was free to do as it pleased for a bit, the Pteranodon started picking fish off at faster speed, literally plucking them out of their element before tossing them onto the bank.

After several supersonic fishing runs and a case of air sickness, Jack clumsily stumbled back onto the bank as he gave a thumbs up to his tame. "Good job Razor Wings. Next time though, try working on smoothing out your runs." He doubted the Pterasaur understood, but he took its idle caws as confirmation before grabbing handfuls of fish.

"Hey little fella, here's a snack." Jack didn't know why he was doing this. They already knew how to tranq and tame, but he doubted shooting an arrow into the side of an otter the size of his arm would do anything but shorten its life span. So, maybe he could get the little ball of fur to trust him with some fish offerings.

"That's it, come on," he motioned as the otter drew closer. When it stood just mere inches from Jack's offering hand witht he fish, it excitedly started munching the corpse with vigor as Jack chuckled at the sight. Grabbing another fish, he repeated the process until he had run out of fish.

"Well buddy, think that's all of-" Jack was cut off by his implant flashing a familiar screen up as he prepared to saddle up and leave.

_Name your_ _Otter!_

"That actually worked?" he commented to himself. He stroked his chin in thought as he tried to find an appropriate name for the brown furred mammal before him. Rather than wait however, the Otter climbed up onto Jack's body from his jeans and ran up to his shoulder. There, it wrapped its tail around the 17 year old's neck, acting like a scarf.

"Wow. You're a cuddly guy, aren't you?" he said as he rubbed its head. And that was when it came to him. Typing in his name suggestion, Jack smiled as Mr. Cuddles tightened his wrap around his neck, warming both his heart and his body. "That saves leaving the jeans up to dry," he said aloud. He didn't mind considering the little creature warmed him up enough.

Or that it was licking his face like a puppy.

"Come on Mr. Cuddles, we need to report back to the team," Jack said as he mounted Razor Wing and head brought her attention ed back to their base.

* * *

Miko yawned as she made the 140th narcotic of the day. In hindsight, maybe she should have been the one to go scouting while Raf and Jack sat back gathering berries and gross meat all day. Her arm was starting to tire from all the mortaring and pestling, and even her implant producing some on the side didn't relieve her annoyance with the process.

The sound of wing flaps brought her attention back outside the half built cabin, where Jack had finally returned with Razor Wing.

Miko walked outside to warmly greet her companion, "Ughh, finally you're back. Did you stop and get gas for your bird on your way back?"

Jack merely smirked at the statement as he stated, "Actually, I took initiative." He then snapped his finger as the Otter on his neck descended onto his hand, earning a gasp from the Japanese teen.

"Oh my gosh!" she cried as she gave the adorable mammal a scratch under the belly. As much as she loved big and awesome dinosaurs and Autobots, she had a soft side for fluffy and cute animals such as the fuzzball before her.

"Miko, meet Mr. Cuddles," Jack proudly introduced.

Miko dissolved her put as she sighed, "Alright, lateness forgiven. As long as you found something worth taming."

Jack nodded. "3 things actually. Now we just need Raf. Raf!" he called, and he soon found the boy exiting the jungle with Spitfire by his side.

"Hey guys, what'd I miss?" asked the preteen, but his attention was immediately taken by Mr. Cuddles running up and licking him. "Whoa! Hey little guy, nice to meet you too!" he laughed between licks.

Jack merely smiled as he waved him over. "Come on, I found you guys some Pteranodons for us to tame. There's a level 130 Triceratops there too we can tame before dark."

Obeying the older boy, Raf ran inside to grab his bow and some bolas he'd made in his spare time from the weapons storage box they'd crafted. Bringing the other two teens their weapons as well, he dumped them off as Miko retrieved the narcotic from the mortar and pestle. Once everyone was set, Jack propped Raf up on Knockout after giving him a quick rundown of the riding basics. He would be riding the Raptor and the Dilo into the forest while Jack and Razor Wing stayed close by.

As for Miko, she had a more... unique mode of transportation.

"Jack, I know I've done some dumb things before, but PLEASE don't let Razor Wing drop me!"

The Japanese girl was currently hanging on for dear life as her shoulders were being held by the Pteras talons. It was one thing to be in control on the back of an animal, it was another thing entirely to be holding onto its limbs so you didn't become dropped lasagna on the dirt.

"Consider this payback for getting us stuck with Skyquake," Jack smugly replied as he initiated a dive, eliciting a scream from Miko.

It wasn't very hard for Raf to follow Razor Wing after that.

Finally arriving back in the valley by the obelisk, Jack set Miko down on solid ground as Raf emerged from the jungle with their two other carnivores. After Miko gave Jack an earful for his little stunts, Raf cleared his throat as he coughed, "I believe we came here to tame some dinosaurs?"

Finishing her little rant at her friend, Miko smirked as she said, "That we did, Raf. Now where did you say you tracked those two flying lizards again?"

Jack looked up to the sky before pointing at two figures above. "Up there, although I don't remember seeing that 3rd one last time."

Following his line of sight, Raf and Miko glanced upward as they gazed upon the two, now three shapes flying in the air. The first two were definitely Pteranodons, but the third flying object seemed stockier than them. Unable to confirm what animal was with the Pteras, Jack decided to fly up and investigate. As he came closer, he started noticing lots of feathers compared to the Pteras which had virtually none. It also sported a large beak, and had larger wings that flapped like those of a vulture.

"And what would you be?" Jack asked to himself as he came in closer. Coming close to try and spyglass it, the creature suddenly noticed his presence and banked hard to the right. The next thing he knew, Razor Wing was engaged in an aerial battle with the large bird.

"Easy, easy!" yelled Jack as he tried to steer his mount away from the sharp talons and beak of the bird. Trying to evade the murderous eagle/vulture thing, Jack forgot to account for Razor Wing's still low max stamina as he suddenly felt the bird struggling to stay aloft.

"Come on girl, push it!" he encouraged as he tried to land at a rock outcropping above what he assumed to be a swamp. Spying all the crocodilians in the water below, Jack pulled as hard as he could on the reigns to get Razor Wing to land ANYWHERE but the ground. Alas, the Pteranodon just didn't have enough energy to reach the rock, instead landing at the swamp's edge.

"Scrap,"

* * *

"Jack!" cried Miko and Raf as they watched their friend get chased out of the air by the 3rd flying creature. Seeing where he was forced to land, the duo along with Knockout and Spitfire raced down the river in order to find the boy and the bird, but halted once they reached the mangrove trees down the river as they stared into a set of reptillian eyes.

"That is one big alligator," Raf whispered. Within the waters of the river near a trickling waterfall, a reptilian head lay still as a statue as it stared with hungry eyes at the two teens and their dinosaurs. Knockout and Spitfire noticed as well as they assumed defensive postures, ready to defend their humans. Miko and Raf also steeled themselves as they pulled out their bow and spear.

Then, the large alligator made its move as it began swimming at them rapidly. Before any of them had a chance to react, Raf suddenly found himself flat on his bottom as the alligator made a sudden leaping lunge, but not at him.

"Hey! Give us back our dinosaur!" Miko shouted in fury as the alligator had Knockout clenched in its jaws. The Raptor screeched as it attempted to claw its way out of its iron grip, but the alligator would not give any ground even as Raf pelted its body with arrows.

"Oh man, I read about these alligators in the dossier. If that's a Kaprosuchus, we need to get Knockout out before it drags him into the water!" Raf panicked. He kept laying into the Kapro with all the stone arrows he had while Miko and Spitfire bit and speared his hide, all while Knockout tried to wrench himself free.

"Stop it! It's going in the water!" alerted Raf as the bloody alligator attempted to flee the scene with the Raptor in its jaws. "Miko, kill it quick!" he shouted over Knockout's panicked cries.

Hoping her aim would be true, Miko pulled back her arm before throwing her spear like a javelin.

**_Rghhhrghh_**

The Kapro gave a moan as it breathed its last breath. Miko's spear had implanted itself right into its head, piercing the brain as the pointy stick lay embedded in the bone. The tension in the jaws released as the mouth let go of its captive Raptor. Knockout immediately tore into the dead body of the crocodilian when he got up, digging his claws into the body as he scarfed down meat until it disintegrated.

"That... was a close one," panted Miko as she and Raf regained their breath from the harrowing experience. Spitfire went to Knockout to lick his wounds clean and to ask for some of the meat as the two recovered.

"I hate swamps," Raf plainly declared after catching his breath. He now had a certain loathing for all of the Shrek movies too.

"Agreed," Miko said as she helped Raf up onto the Raptor's back.

"Wait, but what about Jack?" Raf asked. The whole reason they had come to the swamp was to find their lost friend. They couldn't just leave him.

Miko had an uncertain face as she decided, "Knockout got his butt handed to him by that gator, and no offense Raf, I don't think Spitfire is saving us from the next giant crocodile that comes lunging out the trees." Miko sighed as they walked back to the plains,"Jack's smart. He can take care of himself."

* * *

"Oh boy, this is NOT good," Jack gulped. He wasn't sure if the crocodiles and alligators had seen where he landed, so he could only pray they hadn't as Razor Wing regained stamina. Hopping down was the last thing he wanted to do, but the reptile needed less weight in order to be able to recover faster.

At least the giant bird hadn't followed them in. Even it knew that the swamp was a terrible place to be.

"Come on Razor Wing, there's a lot of crocodiles here that wanna make you a into some Knockout Burger nuggets. Hurry up!" he urged the Pterasaur.

Just as he finished his sentence, his hairs stood on edge as he sensed something dangerous from behind them. Pulling out his spear, he whipped around just in time to see a giant snake rear its head back, ready to strike at his flyer. Instantly, he whistled Razor Wing to attack the giant reptile as it lunged at the Pteranodon, just in time for her to take off and avoid the bite.

Taking his opportunity while it was distracted, Jack ran up to the ancient constrictor he knew as Titanoboa and tried to stab it through the head with his spear. Though the snake moved out of the way, it was not able to avoid the sharp beak that pecked its side as Razor Wing came in for the attack. Together, Jack and the Pterasaur kept the snake disfocused as they each alternated attacking.

"Oof!" Jack groaned as he was pushed to the ground by the constricotr's tail after missing a chance to stab its head. Holding his spear out in front of him, it was all he could do to hold back the Titanoboa's fangs as it clamped own on the flimsy stick. Mustering all of his strength, Jack pushed against the snake as he tried to keep the sharp teeth from piercing his brain.

"Say halitosis, smiley," he said before pushing the spear midsection harder against the snake, causing the stick to break in two as he dodged the teeth. The teen then used the splintered ends to stab into the Titanoboa's head, killing it.

Picking himself off the ground, Jack quickly mounted Razor Wing as she landed and took off without ever looking back, not even wasting time to collect the snake's hide and meat. As he exited the mangrove tree'd area of the river, Jack had only one thing in mind;

"I hate the swamp."

* * *

As Jack left the swamp behind him, Miko and Raf had already taken the initiative and downed the level 95 Pteranodon on their own. While they were waiting for its hunger meter to drop, wing flaps alerted them to Jack's return as he jumped off the saddle.

"See? I told you he's able to take care of himself," pointed Miko towards Raf.

Allowing a small smirk to cross his face, Raf looked down as he said, "Sorry we couldn't help you Jack. We were on our way, but then a Kaprosuchus attacked us. It nearly drowned Knockout if Miko hadn't gotten it."

"It's fine Raf," Jack said as he held up his hand forgivingly. "The swamp sucks. I wouldn't even wish Vinny to go in there, much less you two." He patted the younger teen's shoulder as Mr. Cuddles scrambled onto it to comfort the preteen.

Turning his attention back to their current situation, Jack searched the sky for the other Ptera. "Alright. No more extra adventures for the day. Let's just get these Ptera's then we can go work on the home for the night." For once, Miko didn't object. She needed some calm after fighting off that heart attack on four legs. A new day would dawn after all.

And so, Jack flew up into the air and found the 115 that he had seen earlier. Using the bola in midair, he managed to get the lightweight reptile to land softly but quickly on the ground, giving Miko and Raf enough time to tranq the flyer. Repeating the process that they had with Razor Wing, the taming process went by smoother as all 3 of them and their tames managed to deter any would be scavengers.

As the first Ptera rose to its new owners, Raf did a quick sex check before coming up with a name.

"How about, Camo?" the youngest of them decided. The name fit, as the Ptera had mixing patterns of green across its body. If one were to compare them, they would find that it was colored like a ghillie suit. Raf liked the name, but looked to Jack and Miko anyways for approval as they gave him a nod and a thumbs up. Smiling to himself, he added some meat to their new companion's inventory as they waited for Miko's bird to tame.

When the Ptera spread its wings after being newly tamed, Miko was bursting with enthusiasm as a million different name ideas raced through her head.

"I know, Sunstreaker!" the Japanese teen decided upon as she gave the bony bird a bone crushing embrace. The Ptera awkwardly tried to return it as it wrapped its wings around the girl.

"Alright, let's get home. It's getting dark, and I don't want to pay Mr. Sandman the Troodon another visit," Jack shivered. Nodding their heads, Miko and Raf whistled their birds to follow them until they were saddled. Armed with their broken weapons, new dinosaurs, and a new distaste for mangrove trees, Team Prime trekked back through the jungle as they ended their day.

* * *

**I would like to add that if any of you have issues with how I am writing the characters, please feel free to let me know. I am trying to sta as true to character as possible, but it's been a while since I've fully watched TF: Prime. Thank you though for supporting the story!**


	8. Making with the Heavy Metal

**Might be getting over ambitious, but how would you all like the idea of me eventually writing the story of the How To Train Your Dragon crew over on Ragnarok? I have a feeling many of you wouldn't mind it at all, but I want to get the readers' opinions first. Just PM me or leave a review if you wanna add some input**

* * *

After acquiring their new eyes in the sky, Team Prime made the long trek back to base. They were thankful that the surprises ended with the flying alligator, as nothing tried to attack them on the way back. It had taken longer than expected however, as they had lost their way in the jungle and made a few wrong turns.

Jack was the first to arrive with Razor Wing, flapping up dirt into the night as he hopped off the Pterasaur. Miko and Raf followed shortly after with Camo and Sunstreaker tailing behind Knockout and Spitfire.

"Alright guys, if you ask me, I'd say today was a pretty good success," Jack started, grinning at the smiles from his two tribe mates.

"But, let's not pretend we didn't have our... issues." At this, Miko and Raf's faces turned confused to which Jack elaborated, "Not with us, but our equipment. From what you two said, that Kapro nearly took an arm and a leg to take down with a bow and spear."

Raf shivered, "If it weren't for Miko's aim, I don't think Knockout would still be with us."

"Yeah, and I'm sure that stupid snake would've been easier to deal with if your spear didn't snap in two," the girl added on.

Jack pointed at the two of them. "That's the point. Our tools and our weapons are way behind what our engrams are. We're still by all means cave people running around out there. We can't rely on our animals completely."

Seeing he had their interest, he stated, "I say it's time we start making with the heavy metal. Literally. I've got my sights on a crossbow."

Miko pumped her fist as she cheered, "Yes! Sword time baby, it's about to get real in here!"

Raf shyly grinned as he added, "And I can really use some of those metal tools for harvesting."

Jack nodded in satisfaction. "Alright, Miko? I'm trusting you with our only Pteranodon saddle. Go out and chop up some metal rocks. From what 10th grade Geology class taught me, they should have some shiny streaks across them. The more shine, the more metal."

"You got it. Come on Sunstreaker, we're going mining," she said enthusiastically before grabbing the saddle and taking off.

Turning to Raf, Jack said, "In the meantime Raf, since we technically don't need sleep, let's work on the house until Miko gets back.

"Alright. We've been putting it off for a few days now anyways," he agreed.

"Great. I've also got this plan for a small animal pen for Mr. Cuddles. Come on, I'll tell you about it on the way." Together, they took their animals into the woods to begin chopping trees again.

* * *

Miko scanned the land below her as she yawned out of boredom. An hour had passed, and she had yet to see one shiny rock that Jack had talked about.

"This is soooo much less awesome than I thought it'd be Sunstreaker." she pouted on the Ptera's back. She had searched their section of beach, filling in the magic map she had gotten from a drop in the process. However, aside from an eye opening experience of almost crashing into a Brontosaur, the young girl was coming up with nothing.

"Urgh, I can't believe this. Now I really miss Bulkhead. I'd bet he'd be able to get some metal or shed some of his scrap for us," she sighed sadly. Months had passed, but she still missed her Autobot guardian. Wherever he was, she hoped he was happy. Sunstreaker squawked her sympathies to her rider before suddenly screeching to a halt.

"Whoa there girl! Alright, guess you've been flying for a while. Let's get you some stamina," Miko calmed as she directed the bird downwards. As she landed, Miko noticed she was near the area where Jack had gone down earlier that day. Suddenly feeling apprehensive, she readied her bow in case something tried to attack them while they were vulnerable. While waiting, she followed Sunstreaker's gaze towards the gargantuan trees that lay beyond the swamp.

"Hmmm, Jack said I just need to get metal. He never said where," thought Miko aloud. Hopping back onto Sunstreaker, she patted her golden colored back as she ordered the Ptera forward. "Vamanos Sunny, let's get some metal!" Her steed complied as she held out her torch, speeding straight into the Redwood's as dawn crested over the horizon.

The tall trees unnerved Miko as she first entered, casting shadows far larger than she felt like flying in. Even in the air, she felt as if something could easily catch her by surprise if she wasn't careful. The golden Pteranodon felt the tension as well, as it nervously squawked at its rider.

"Easy girl, we're fine. See? Nothing but a bunch of trees," she said, secretly saying it to herself as well to calm her nerves. "No way something can take us out of the- AHHHHH!" she screamed as a dark shape tried to lunge at her form the tree in front of them.

Veering Sunstreaker away at the last second, the Pteranodon and the human narrowly missed being snatched up by what can only be described as a projectile tiger. As the first flecks of sunlight shone into the Redwoods, the creature revealed its true figure. Giant bone crushing teeth protruded from the jaw. It's legs were as thick as the tree trunks that it had hid on. Its maple colored fur glowed in the sunlight, revealing its bulky body. Taking the hint that they weren't welcome, Miko booked it away from the giant cat that now prowled the forest floor.

"Okay, this trip was sooo worth it!" exclaimed Miko, ecstatic at finding yet another prehistoric species. She mentally added the giant cat to her taming list as she curved around the tree she had seen back the other way so she could head back.

Then she curved around another tree. Then another. Then another...

"Oh scrap," she cursed. She landed her Pteranodon as she stared at the map in front of her. Scratching her head, she noticed Sunstreaker had peeked her beak over her shoulder, also trying to get a grip on where they were.

"I think we came from... that way?" the human guessed. They both knew full well that she had no idea if she had pointed the right direction before taking off again.

"Hey, Sunstreaker, check it out!" Miko shouted. Coming to a clearing in the mighty Redwood trees, the pair of them found themselves staring at a mountain peak in the middle of the forest. Pumping her fist in joy, the Japanese girl directed Sunstreaker to the top of the peak.

"Oh boy, we've hit the motherload on metal!" Where she had landed, shiny gold metal rocks reflected the rising sun's rays, lighting up the forest and Miko's spirits. Next to the metal rocks, white shards of crystal sprouted up from the ground, capturing the girl's interest as well. Finally, there was a pure black rock that seemed of a different type to the metal and regular rocks.

Jumping down from from her tame, Miko immediately set to work smacking each of the minerals with her stone pick. Her harvesting yielded upsetting results however, as she only managed to get 16 metal from one rock, 4 obsidian (which she figured would probably come in handy later), and 6 crystal. On the 2nd metal rock, her stone pick broke, dismaying her even more.

"Stupid pick," she huffed, chucking it somewhere else on the mountain.

The Pulmonoscorpius did not appreciate the gesture.

Charging down the mountain, it located the creature that struck it on the head, finding Miko and Sunstreaker stumbling backwards at the sight of it.

"Get your big meaty claws away from me!" shouted Miko as she regained her footing. Whistling Sunstreaker on the arachnid menace, she pulled out her bow as she started laying her stone arrows into the creature. With its focus divided between the agile Pteranodon and the crafty human, the gian scorpion gave a final shriek before succumbing to its injuries.

Miko wiped her forehead in relief as she called back for Sunstreaker to land again. The Ptera obeyed as its owner rubbed her hands.

"Nice job girl, this'll give us chitin for days," she said as she rubbed the Ptera's beak affectionately. The girl pulled out her stone arrows from the creature's exoskeleton before hacking away at it with the stone hatchet she still had. However, she only managed to get 3 chops at the corpse in before another set of wing flaps sounded behind her. These ones having much heavier wingbeats than Sunstreaker.

"Whoa! That's a big hawk!" she observed. Above her and behind her, she hadn't noticed them before, but a congregation of giant hawks had gathered, their wing flaps deafening as their powerful bodies dominated the airspace.

"That's awesome," grinned Miko, but her attitude quickly changed as she noticed the hawks changing trajectory. Specifically, right at her and her fresh kill.

"Hey! Get your own meat you fragging vultures!" she cursed, her time with Bulkhead and Arcee making itself known with her colorful vocabulary. Miko was smarter than getting in between at least a dozen hungry birds of prey too, especially ones the size of mini coopers.

"Alright Sunny, beat those wings! Now!" she shouted as she urgently pulled on the saddle. The Pteranodon didn't need its owner to tell it to get the hell out of dodge as it immediately took off into the blue morning sky, letting the ravenous vultures take their prize.

Now at the top of the Redwoods, Miko could see the green obelisk from where they were flying. From there, she followed the river all the way down to the beach, finally able to connect the dots of the island together.

"Sweet! Come on girl, let's go show the boys what we did," Miko said with excitement as she directed the Pteranodon back over the swamp and back to base.

* * *

"There! I'd say this would get us at least a C in woodshop class," Raf joked as he added the last sloped stone ceiling to the house. He had to admit, Jack was right when he said mixing stone and wood would look better than a straight wooden cabin. While the walls and the foundations were made of wood, the roof was made of stone to add a different aesthetic. One row of the roof was flat in the middle in order to allow a stone hatchframe and trapdoor to allow roof access from the inside.

On the inside, when opening the door, there was a large space with connecting dinosaur gates that allowed the smaller dinos inside when the weather was inclement that also contained a fireplace with three seats in the corner. The entrance also had a refining forge in the other corner, with space reserved for a smithy once Miko returned. Past the foyer was a staircase in the center that led straight up to a series of rooms, one for each member of Team Prime. There was also a small room upstairs containing several preserving bins, each empty except for one with sparkpowder that was running with all their cooked meat.

Finally, below the staircase and was storage room that held several large and small storage boxes, each with a different name such as 'weapons', 'tools', and 'structures' as well as various material boxes. In the middle of the storage boxes against a wall, a table with some mortar and pestles sat with a chair, ready for whoever needed to use it.

Jack nodded in approval of Raf's statement. "Right? I could see this being some prime real estate. Beachside view, 3 bedroom, and a bathroom in the works. Now, all we need is Miko and we'll be all-"

"Yo!" said teen shouted from the sky as she descended to the two below her. "Ooooo, fancy house. It could use some more... flair though, you know?"

"Details later, ok?" Jack said. "I don't exactly see any paintings coming out of any of us."

"Hey! I can draw, I'm just a little rusty is all," countered Miko. "Besides, I meant things like taxidermies. We're on an island full of dinosaurs, guys. Wouldn't it be cool to have models of the dinosaurs we meet?"

"Guys!" Raf shouted. I think you're forgetting the most important thing?" Turning to Miko, he asked, "So, how much metal did you manage to get, Miko?"

Grinning at the question, she opened her inventory and showed them the amount she had acquired. The boys liked what they saw as they looked at the 60 pure metal she had gathered.

"I would've gotten more, but there was this thing big flock of those giant hawks that attacked Jack in the swamp yesterday. As soon as me and Sunstreaker tried to harvest this scorpion we killed, they bullied us out of the area!"

"Yeah, those things are vicious," Jack commented as he recalled his own experience with the giant bird of prey.

"Anyways, it took me forever to get Sunstreaker here because she's such a lightweight, but check out the metal places that I found on my way back." She pulled out her magic map and the boys pulled out theirs as they tried to figure out where on their maps Miko had marked. She had some pins to mark locations, and using latitude and longitude, they managed to make out where on their unmade maps her metal nodes were.

"Alright then, looks like we've got our nodes. Let's get smelting," declared Jack. And so they spent the next half hour smelting their metal in the forge. Between having the implant magically do it for them and them actually putting 2 chunks of ore in the fire with the default forge tongs, Team Prime made quick headway as they now had 30 metal ingots to work with. Using 5 of the metal ingots to create the smithy, the team got to business catching up to the iron age.

The first metal creation they made was a set of tools for each person, much to Raf's delight. One pickaxe and one hatchet each except for Jack, who said he'd grab one from the next batch of metal they got, as well one metal sickle for Raf. They each got to experience how much of a difference it made when they had to cut down some trees for Jack's upcoming crossbow. Smacking a palm tree, Raf and Miko were stunned when they pulled in practically twice the amount they usually got from knocking down one tree.

"Why didn't we start on these earlier again?" rhetorically asked an incredulous Miko. Now she was eager to get back to her metal nodes to show the guys.

After bringing in the hefty load of wood and sticking it in the smithy's inventory and the wood storage, Miko went to Jack with her request to bring them along. Seeing the positive difference it was making, the Matrix entrusted teen could see no fault in following her lead.

"As long as you got enough chitin to make another Pteranodon saddle. I don't think Sunstreaker would like the prospect of carrying all 3 of us," the leader of the group offered. Nodding her head, the Japanese teen went through all of their storages and scraped together just enough chitin to craft another saddle from a primitive drop blueprint for Camo, much to Raf's gratitude.

"Thanks Miko!" he thanked, taking the saddle and putting it on his new flying friend.

Jack was less enthusiastic about the trip, considering he'd be carried via talons, but he gulped down his fear. "For the good of the team, right? But remember, I don't drop you, you don't drop me for pranks."

Miko waved him off, "Pshhh, I'm not petty, of course I won't drop you." The wink she made afterwards though was not reassuring in the slightest. Making final preparations and taking off any extra weight for Sunstreaker to carry, the team took off towards the metal spots their scouting had found, making sure their animals were all well fed with the new feeding trough they had placed.

"We'll be back for you three soon!" Raf called over his shoulder to the other dinosaurs.

Miko led the way as Raf followed behind, coming to a small peak near the swamp she had spotted on her way back around 65 lat. and 55 long. Touching down on the peak, she found that all the metal rocks she had mined had somehow regenerated.

"Huh, I swear I mined the entire rock last time I was here," she commented.

Jack had gotten his legs back under him as he stumbled over to the collection of metal and crystal before him. "Well, I for one am not gonna argue with the magic regenerating metal rocks." Ignoring the inconsistency at how quickly the metal regenerated, Jack whipped out his pickaxe. Shrugging it off, Miko joined him and Raf as they hacked away at one of the rocks, becoming much more efficient with their new metal tools. If it weren't for their Pteranodons' low weight capacities, they would have gone for much more, but they agreed that 250 metal would be good enough if they split it between the two flyers.

"Alright, there's one more spot, but Raf, I'm gonna need you and Camo to follow right behind me and over those big trees there," Miko instructed.

"Uh, alright. Care to explain why though?"

Miko smirked. "I would, the question is if you'll want to know the answer." Deciding that some things were better left unknown, Raf only shook his head as he pulled up on Camo's reigns. Miko then grabbed Jack in Sunstreaker's talons as they started elevating above the mighty Redwoods.

The fly seemed to go on forever as the weighted Ptera's made much less headway. Letting her flyer drift on autopilot, Miko took her time to use the crystal she had acquired to craft 2 more spyglasses for her and Raf. She had tossed it to Raf, nearly scaring him off of Camo's back as he barely caught the cylinder. Miko had apologized before they came across the clearing.

"There! And let's put some gas on it, that metal can't be doing Camo any favors I bet." Descending from high altitude, Sunstreaker and Camo were guided into an easy landing. Just in time as well, as the two reptiles started to pant, their stamina nearly giving out.

"Wow Miko, I gotta admit that you really hit the jackpot with this one," Jack admitted. He didn't collect anymore metal for fear of encumbering Sunstreaker, but he did note the large abundance that was present, along with the crystal and obsidian scattered around.

"Right? Only problem is dealing with these jerks," Miko said with a pointed glare as she pointed to the flock of giant hawks flying above them. "They do look really pretty though."

"Yeah, and some of them are crazy high level. Look!" Raf pointed out as he looked through his spyglass. Following his lead, Jack and Miko peeked through their own spyglasses at the giant bird the youngest of them had in his sights.

'Wild Female Argentavis- Lvl 135'

'Wild Male Argentavis- Lvl 115

"So that's what those things are called, huh?" Jack said, finally having a name to his assailant. He scowled at the species that got him up close and personal with the danger noodles of the island. He had to admit though, they did look pretty majestic soaring around up there.

"Jack, you know what we gotta do, right?" his female companion nudged.

"Whoa, slow down there Cinderella, let's wait till we have crossbows to shoot those tranq arrows out of before we start taking on things 4 times our level."

"But it's right there! Come on, you guys gotta seize the moment!"

"I actually agree with Jack on that one," Raf piped up. "An Argentavis looks a lot bulkier than a Pteranodon, we might need something with a little more punch to knock it out. And a _lot _more tranq arrows."

"Plus Miko, didn't you have a sword you wanted to get going in the works?" Jack added.

Miko childishly pouted, "Fine you lame brains, let's head home. Hurry up and get on the peak before some of the giant scorpions come around."

Glad they could get the stubborn girl to agree with them, Jack hustled up the peak for Miko to pick him up as Raf started making for the house. After a considerable amount of time, they made their way back on their home after a sluggish performance from the Pteranodons. Their owners made sure that to pump some more stamina and weight in their future level ups.

"We're back guys," waved Raf to their other tames, each giving delighted chirps at seeing the humans back home. Landing on the roof, Jack, Raf, and Miko carried the metal in as they dumped it into the refining forge and lit it with some wood.

While they were waiting on the large stack of metal to melt, Jack brought up the animal pen idea again. Since they were stone structure tier now, the leader of their group suggested creating a stone fence in the back with a stone dinosaur gate to match brought any larger animals like a Triceratops into the fold. Using their metal tools, they managed to get the resources they needed in no time, even if they broke once or twice. By the end of their harvesting though, the group was left sweating and panting in the middle of the foyer.

"It's only the afternoon, why is it so hot?" Raf panted as he took a swig from his waterskin.

"You tell me. This island is all types of weird," said Miko as she had Sunstreaker act as a temporary fan with her wings.

"Then it's a good thing we don't have to go out there now, we should have enough to make that pen," Jack commented, getting up from the ground to look in his crafting tab.

Ignoring the little flame on the bottom stating he was hot, he went to the crafting tab and started creating fence foundations and walls, as well as the stone dinosaur gateway and and gate. Just as he finished making the dinosaur gateway, he heard the familiar sound of a level up.

"Heh, what do you know? Level 35."

Applying his two levels to fortitude, he went to his engram list to check what was available. Landing his eyes on the new selections, his eyes went wide before he smiled as he approached the smithy with 95 metal ingots.

"What'd you unlock that's got you so giddy?" Miko asked. She was also intrigued by the large amount of metal Jack had taken out.

"Something that you're definitely going to agree with," Jack said secretively. "Aaaand, done. Check this baby out."

As he said that, he selected an item from his inventory, and in the next instant, a large hunting rifle formed in his hands, much to the shock of Miko and Raf.

"We're really catching up with the times now, aren't we?" Raf whistled. They'd been on the island a week at best and already they were starting to craft guns. Considering they'd just skipped the first 2.5 million years of human advancement in technology, he was impressed they were allowed access at so low of a level. It made him wonder what the next sixty to seventy levels had to offer.

"Wooo! Now hunting trips are gonna be so much easier," Miko cheered. She still swore that every arrow on those Phiomias had hit, but it still took ages to take the little mammals down, even with Knockout helping.

Jack curbed their enthusiasm as he stated, "Not so fast. Until we get more metal, this is a community gun. It needs ammo too, which also needs metal and gunpowder. We'll pull it out only for emergencies until we have more metal." Seeing the pout on Miko's face and Raf's slightly sullen features, he added, "BUT, that doesn't mean we don't get to treat ourselves a little bit. These are for each of us." Going back into his implant again, he selected two items from his inventory before ejecting them as little packages (something he'd never understand). Taking the little packages for themselves, Miko and Raf examined their contents before smiling.

"Aw yeah!" Miko pumped her fist as she held her new crossbow. Now THIS she'd have no problem with making ammo for.

"This is going to be great for taming!" pointed out Raf.

Jack nodded as he pulled out his own X-bow. "These things are surprisingly cheap, so if you lose yours somehow, feel free to make another one. As long as we keep a steady amount of metal going, we should be fine."

The two others nodded as they were already setting their tranq arrows up to fire next time they pulled it out. Once Jack had set his he said, "Now that we got some better equipment, I think we should really start looking at investing in some ammo."

"That's not fair! We were gonna tame those argents once we had these crossbows weren't we?" Miko asked.

Jack raised his hand to calm down. "Exactly. And that's why I was _going _to say that we get a berry gatherer. Without narcotics, we're not going anywhere near those murder-hawks."

Following his logic, Miko agreed as she settled down. Raf then spoke up, "I think I know one that might be really helpful for us."

Pulling out Helena Walker's book, he flipped back through the pages before finding the one he was looking for. Turning it to the others, he explained, "The Ankylosaurus apparently can bring in lots of metal with its clubbed tail AND it's a berry eater, so it's got to be good at getting berries than we are. I saw a level 70 while we were leaving the Redwoods earlier, so why don't we go for that?"

Jack and Miko weighed out the costs and benefits,. They had yet to tame a herbivore, so they didn't know what to expect. However, they had stockpiled their berries in the preserving bin upstairs while Miko was scouting for metal. They also figured out via their implant that herbivores liked Mejoberries the best, so they had left some large piles in the bins just in case. And they really could use the metal...

"Alright, let's make a little more tranq arrows. Then, you can lead us out towards the Anky, how's that?" Jack put forward. Raf nodded as he and Miko went outside to clear the bushes of narcoberries, now noticing they seemed to respawn as well like the metal nodes. Jack on the other hand took 3 stacks of Mejoberries and put them inside of Sunstreaker's inventory, while also helping himself to a metal hatchet of his own.

Miko and Raf managed to scavenge enough berries and spoil enough meat to put together 100 narcotic and 30 more tranq arrows while Jack managed to get the outdoor animal pen all set up behind the house. As soon as he had guided Spitfire and Knockout into the pen, the other two humans came to tell him they were all set.

"On it!" he shouted back as he shut the reinforced dinosaur gate, waving to the animals before letting Sunstreaker pick him up.

The fly through the Redwoods was much faster since they were not overburdened with metal. In no time, Miko and Raf landed their birds at the peak of the mountain while Raf took a look around the mountain base for any sign of the clubbed herbivore.

"There!" he called to his friends as he spyglassed the level 70. It wasn't alone though. Its level 95 boyfriend was walking right next to her. Raf flew up to convey the news.

"So good news, I found it. Sort of bad news, its husband is taking her on a romantic walk," the youngest teen relayed.

"Hmm, firing at one could end up making the other go after us, so we need to split them up," said Jack.

I'll take the hubby, you two go for the lady," stated Miko as she took off towards the Ankylosaurus pair.

"Well, at least she's putting that energy to good use," shrugged the leader of the team.

The group got in position around the pair, waiting for them to get a decent distance away from each other. From her shooting perch on a tall rock, Miko put up five fingers as she counted down, Jack and Raf at the ready with their crossbows. On zero, they each fired at their respective Ankys, neither of them appreciating being prodded at by the strange skinny monkeys.

"These things move like molasses," commented Jack as he shot his third arrow into the Anky's hard armor. He hoped that the arrows had pierced their way through, because once the lumbering animal did reach them, it swung its massive clubbed tail at the two boys. Dodging out of the way, they saw the tail shatter the metal rock they had hidden behind, not wanting to imagine that was what their bones would have looked like.

They continued to fire on the herbivore until their 13th arrow caused it to flee. Chasing after it, they managed to land one more lucky shot in its side, causing it to tip over unconscious.

"These X-bows are way better than the regular ones," commented Raf, knowing full well that the flimsy bow combined with his poor marksmanship wouldn't have even hit the dinosaur if it were 4 feet in front of him.

"You can say that again. Let's go see if we can't help Miko now."

"AHHH!" came a scream from said girl's direction, and Jack and Raf arrived just in time to see Miko stumbling off her half broken rock perch. The Anky had knocked down the rock, forcing the girl to the ground where she was dangerously close to the strong tail.

"Dodge!" shouted Jack, causing Miko to duck under a sweep from the clubbed herbivore and dive out of its way. Jack and Raf went to assist, but only 5 arrows in, the herbivore was already running away from them. One more arrow from Miko's bow did the job as it slumped over on its side.

"Whew! Thanks for the save guys. The old man was really cranky about getting shot in his private area."

Jack and Raf cringed as their friend had admitted to violating one of the sacred tenants of the bro-code. "Yeah, I don't think we'd appreciate an unplanned castration either," Jack scolded. Different species, same rules.

"Miko's eyes went wide as she realized what she said. "Wha- oh no no no, I'd never. I meant in the face, you know, one of the big no touchy zones. I didn't mean _there_."

The two male humans gave a sigh of relief as she elaborated before getting to work. Pulling Sunstreaker's contents out of her inventory, Jack placed as many Mejoberries as he could in each Anky as he halved the total amount. Soon, they were eating slowly but surely, though the leader's face fell as he realized the taming bars were only going up by .3% to .5%.

"Looks like we're in for the long haul guys. Better get comfy or find something to do, I think we're looking at 2 hours at least," he called to his friends, who also gave groans of frustration.

"No way am I sitting on my butt for 2 hours. I'm gonna work on making some more metal," Miko answered.

"Me too," Raf called back as they took back off for the top of the mountain. After several moments, he saw the two of them fly off towards the beach, leaving him alone with the armored dinosaurs.

"Man, Miko really nicked you good, huh?" Jack said to the unconscious dinosaur as he stroked the wound his friend had left in his face. It wasn't too deep, but it was still deep enough to draw a little blood. The sympathetic boy decided to pull out some of the narcotic he had in his inventory and apply it to its puncture wound. It would get in the blood stream anyway, so he might as well use it for its healing property too.

As he finished applying the paste to the Anky's face, he heard some animal calls in the distance. "_Well, it's almost dusk after all," _the black shirted teen thought as he decided to hide in the bushes and out of sight of any would-be predators.

Using his spyglass, he managed to find out more about the forest's wildlife. He had seen the giant furry sloth Megatherium casually strolling around the area before running across a Pulmonoscorpius. Jack didn't dare leave the safety of his bush as he watched the giant sloth rip the arthropod in half in a fit of rage before calming down again. He quickly hacked up the scorpion carcass before the Argents could steal another kill from them.

He had also watched a large moose grazing on some nearby bushes before the Megaloceros was chased by a flock of Terror Birds.

Even the Argy's above him were acting different when they thought no one was around. Instead of flying close to the mountain on a search for food, they landed at the peak as they seemed to lunker down and take a nap, only ever getting up again whenever Miko or Raf flew in to gather more metal.

While the Darby teen hadn't exactly been aiming to be a biologist, he did envy their work. Being around nature, even prehistoric nature, as it went about its usual business was something spectacular. At least when he wasn't part of the food chain.

After 3 hours of shifting between watching nature, taking bush naps, and building up structures, the first Ankylosaurus had finally risen with a yawn, its armored body shaking off the drowsiness it had just woken up from.

"Alright! I think since I'm the only one here, I get first dibs on naming you," Jack said as he petted its armored head.

Thinking deeply, he went over a few names before finally settling on one. Typing the name into the implant prompt, he smiled as he said, "Welcome to Team Prime, Roxanne."

The Ankylosaur crooned with joy at its new owner as it licked him, causing a laugh to escape the boy.

That laugh was quickly silenced as a screech was heard nearby, dragging Jack out of his moment as he whistled the Anky to hide behind a large rock. Jumping into his bush, he scanned the forest floor before he saw it.

It was a Raptor. But a raptor unlike anything he had ever seen before. Its skin was pure red save for black feathers and a black streak running along its spine. It was also much larger than any Raptor he had ever seen, easily towering over Knockout in stature. But the most bizarre thing about it was the red glow it exhibited. For some reason, it made jack's hairs stand on edge, as if he were in the presence of a dominant organism.

Pulling out his spyglass quietly, he trained its lens on the large Raptor as he read the name to himself.

"Female Alpha Raptor-Level 25."

Even at its low level, Jack was not about to test his luck against an animal twice his size and that struck fear into him as hard as a Decepticon. Looking for a way to get the red Utahraptor away from him and his Ankys, he picked up a rock from the ground. Looking around, he saw a beehive under the shade of a Redwood. Praying to Primus he didn't miss his shot, the teen chucked the rock at the Beehive just as the Alpha Raptor passed under it.

Out of the beehive emerged the worker bees, and they were not happy. Taking their anger out on the first thing they saw, the Alpha Raptor shrieked in surprise as it was now surrounded in giant bees. The massive animal took off for the river, hoping to lose the bees in the water.

Jack breathed a sigh of relief as the red glow went away. "That was too close," he sweated before he turned back to the male Ankylosaur while whistling Roxanne out.

The male rose with a groan similar to his mate as Jack rubbed his head too. Roxanne snuggled her head against her mate's side as she started vocalizing with him. After entering his name, Jack patted Rockefeller on the side. "You two are anxiety magnets, you know that?"

Taking the low hums as a yes, Jack nodded as he started putting up the structures he had made earlier while waiting for the two dinosaurs to tame. Placing them down on some flat ground, he created a small 3x3 stone and wood hut with a wood dinosaur gate for the couple to fit into as he ushered them inside.

"Come on. Until we have all the Pteranodons in the sky, there's no way we're walking you two slow pokes back to base," Jack commanded. Once the Anky's were secure inside, the teen shut the gate as he waited for his friends to arrive.

When distinctly human knocks banged against the dinosaur gate, Jack opened the door to find Raf standing outside as night began to fall.

"Hey Jack, you ready to go home?" he asked.

"Boy am I. We'll pick these guys up tomorrow morning," he said as he walked outside for pick up via Camo.

"You two love birds stay there, alright? We'll be back in the morning," said Jack before closing the gate and getting picked up by Raf.

"So, did you see anything cool while you were taming those two?" Raf asked.

"Let's just say I've got a few things to tell for tonight's campfire story," the black shirted boy merely replied as they flew off in the moonlight.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Hope this chapter wasn't too boring. Please review!**


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